<\/p>\n
An attendant prepares to fill a customers tank at a gas station on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Portland, Ore.<\/p>\n
Jenny Kane\/AP<\/p>\n
A total of $99.86 for gasoline is displayed at a fuel pump at a gas station on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Portland, Ore.<\/p>\n
Jenny Kane\/AP<\/p>\n
In this image taken with a slow shutter speed, vehicles move past a gas station on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Portland, Ore.<\/p>\n
Jenny Kane\/AP<\/p>\n
An attendant talks with a customer while fueling their tank at a gas station on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Portland, Ore.<\/p>\n
Jenny Kane\/AP<\/p>\n
A person walks past a sign for fuel prices at a gas station on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Portland, Ore.<\/p>\n
Jenny Kane\/AP<\/p>\n
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) \u2014 Appealing to voters\u2019 anxieties about the soaring cost of living is central to Democrats\u2019 messaging in their hopes of big wins in this year\u2019s midterm elections. In Oregon, a question on the primary ballot is complicating that strategy.<\/p>\n
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The Democratic-controlled Legislature raised the state gas tax and a range of fees last fall as a way to pay for road improvements and plug a hole in the state\u2019s transportation budget. Republicans responded with a petition to repeal the increases, leading to a referendum that will land before voters just as the Iran war is causing the price of gas to skyrocket around the United States.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt is a hell of a time to be raising gas taxes on people,\u201d said Jeanine Holly, filling up her tank on a recent morning in Portland.<\/p>\n
The gas tax repeal on the state\u2019s May 19 primary ballot comes amid widespread disruptions in the oil industry from the war with Iran started by Israel and President Donald Trump. Discontent is high among U.S. consumers across the political spectrum, with the price of gas topping $4.50 a gallon nationally on Friday and averaging about 80 cents more per gallon in Oregon.<\/p>\n
The referendum will give voters a chance to weigh in on a hot-button issue hitting them directly in the pocketbook at a time when prices remain elevated for everything from housing to groceries. Nationally, Democrats have focused on the affordability concerns similar to those that helped propel Trump to victory in 2024. Some of their candidates have even proposed ways to cut taxes as a way to promote their agenda and counter a traditional GOP strategy.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to imagine a worse situation for … a gas tax increase than right now in American politics,\u201d said Chris Koski, professor of political science and environmental studies at Portland\u2019s Reed College.<\/p>\n
Republicans sense an opportunity<\/p>\n
Republicans wasted no time in appealing to voters after the Legislature and Democratic governor signed off on the tax increase, which also included a higher payroll tax for transit projects and a boost in vehicle registration and title fees.<\/p>\n
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They needed 78,000 voter signatures to qualify the referendum for the ballot. They quickly got 250,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is a remarkable number,\u201d said Republican strategist Rebecca Tweed.<\/p>\n
Republicans in Oregon have countered Democrats\u2019 affordability messaging by portraying the tax and fee increases as further fueling the high cost of living.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo Oregonians want to pay more? The answer is no,\u201d said GOP state Sen. Bruce Starr, who helped lead the referendum campaign. \u201cEverything they\u2019re looking at is expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Under the legislation, Oregon\u2019s gas tax would rise from 40 cents to 46 cents a gallon. That would make it tied with Maryland for the eighth highest gas tax of any state when factoring in other state taxes and fees, according to figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.<\/p>\n
At the Portland gas station, Michael Burch said he used to spend $70 to fill three-quarters of his pickup truck’s tank, but now pays $80 for just over half a tank.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m sick and tired of taxes,\u201d the 76-year-old retiree said. \u201cGas is certainly dampening the spirits and the coffers of folks that aren’t as well off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hannah Coe, a 30-year-old student, said she was not sure how she would vote on the primary ballot referendum.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI think I would be in favor of it if it was going to go to the things that it was saying it was going to go to, such as fixing our roads,\u201d she said. \u201cI also kind of feel like that\u2019s just a grab at trying to get more money from the people who live here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Democrats blame the Iran war<\/p>\n
Oregon Democrats spent much of last year fighting to pass a transportation funding bill to help raise money for services such as road paving and snow plowing. The debate came amid projections of declining gas tax revenue as more people adopt electric, hybrid and fuel-efficient cars.<\/p>\n
They finally passed a narrower version of their plan during a special session called by Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek.<\/p>\n
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She recently acknowledged the challenging timing of the referendum.<\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly, the conversation at the ballot this year … is a tough sell right now, because I think everyone is feeling a pinch on their household budgets,\u201d she told reporters.<\/p>\n
But she and other Democrats said the root cause of the spike in gas prices is Trump\u2019s decision to go to war with Iran. She suggested the federal government consider reducing the federal 18 cent-a-gallon gas tax if it wants to provide relief at the pump for Americans.<\/p>\n
Some Oregonians are receptive to the Democrats\u2019 reason for passing the legislation last year. Kurt Borneman, 68, said he would support the gas tax increase, even though he’s now paying at least $10 more to fill up his tank.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI realize that money\u2019s tight and roads need to be improved,\u201d he said at the Portland gas station. \u201cI want less government, but I also want nice roads.\u201d<\/p>\n
Democratic state Rep. Paul Evans said his party lost the battle over how to frame the gas tax increase to the public. So far, there has been no organized effort from Democrats and their allies to oppose the ballot referendum.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen anything is reduced to, \u2018Do you want a tax or not?\u2019 Most people are going to say no,\u201d he said. \u201cThe messaging got away from us, and it became focused upon the price instead of the value.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An attendant prepares to fill a customers tank at a gas station on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":287038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[105314,145,105311,31231,105307,105308,105313,1015,105306,23681,59373,105309,86083,105315,87517,84874,59371,84875,59372,61261,61262,105310,82,84,83,105312],"class_list":["post-287037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-bruce-starr","tag-donald-trump","tag-hannah-coe","tag-iran","tag-jeanine-holly","tag-kurt-borneman","tag-michael-burch","tag-oregon","tag-oregon-primary-gas-tax-iran-war-affordability","tag-package-100024-ap-online","tag-package-100373-mc-complete-state-national","tag-paul-evans","tag-product-30031-ap-california-state-news-no-weather","tag-product-30095-ap-oregon-state-news-no-weather","tag-product-30119-ap-washington-state-news-no-weather","tag-product-30597-ap-business-news-f-wire","tag-product-30598-ap-national-news-report-a-wire","tag-product-31995-ap-online-general-financial-business-news","tag-product-31998-ap-online-national-news","tag-product-32520-ap-online-other-u-s-government-news","tag-product-46986-ap-online-top-stories","tag-rebecca-tweed","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news","tag-tina-kotek"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}