We’re one week out from Election Day and both Democratic and Republican candidates are highlighting energy affordability as a key plank of their electoral platform.
The issue of affordability has dominated discourse throughout this year’s campaigns, with recent polling from the Pew Research Center revealing that almost 84% of registered voters find the economy “very important” to their vote.
The concern cuts across party lines. An October RealClearEnergy poll found that energy costs were a major problem for 74% of Democrats, 59% of independents and 52% of Republicans. Earlier this year, a poll conducted by the research firm Cygnal found that 80% of likely voters considered a candidate’s position on energy affordability and electricity costs important to their vote.
This reality has hit Democrats especially hard, who spent much of the past decade taking aim at the U.S. oil and natural gas industry through failing and deeply flawed climate litigation and climate superfund legislation and broader attacks on the industry.
Earlier this year, Energy In Depth highlighted that New York Governor Kathy Hochul walked back her predecessor Governor Andrew Cuomo’s signature Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Despite the legislation being signed into law while she was serving as Cuomo’s lieutenant governor, Governor Hochul shifted her stance to claim “there were so many unforeseen factors” and acknowledged that “there’s going to be enormous costs” for consumers if the state is forced to enforce the law.
More recently, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey completely reversed her long-standing opposition to natural gas by calling on the Trump administration to expedite a critical pipeline project that would bring more fuel into the state, stating:
“Massachusetts is moving forward with its review, and I’m asking the federal government to do the same – move quickly and keep this project on track so customers can see the savings.”
Next door, Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee (D), who previously signed the state’s 2021 Act on Climate into law, also has drastically shifted his stance, proposing to delay the state’s renewable energy standard and saying:
“We need to provide relief now, which is why my administration is targeting the charges on energy bills we control. The biggest hardship I hear from Rhode Islanders right now is their growing energy bills.”
Even the party’s progressive wing is pushing for lower costs for traditional fuels like gasoline with Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed highlighting:
“Michiganders are now paying a staggering $5 a gallon for gas and $6.79 a gallon for diesel—raising prices for groceries and everything else.”
In Colorado’s competitive 8th Congressional District, Democrat Manny Rutinel has shifted from supporting a fracking ban at the outset of his campaign to embracing what he calls an “all of the above” energy policy. However, he has not publicly clarified his position on neighboring Boulder’s climate lawsuit, despite a history of anti-fossil fuel and pro-litigation activism. Republican Rep. Gabe Evans, his opponent, has warned that suing energy producers will drive fuel prices higher.
More broadly, this shift from Democrats has made energy affordability a potential bipartisan issue in 2026.
In July, U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY) published a discussion draft of the Permitting Our Way to an Energy Resurgence (POWER) Act. The POWER Act is a packaging of committee bills that would lay the groundwork needed to speed up critical energy infrastructure like the construction of pipelines and power generation facilities.
Companion permitting reform legislation in the U.S. Senate was introduced in September by a bipartisan group including Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), with Heinrich saying:
“America is entering a new era of energy demand. We have an enormous opportunity to build big things again to meet this moment – to build more generation, expand our grid, create more jobs, lower energy costs, and make sure we have the energy we need to compete. It should not take decades to build the infrastructure our country needs.”
Capito echoed that sentiment:
“For far too long, our broken and outdated federal environmental review and permitting processes have stood in the way of energy reliability, secure jobs, modern infrastructure, and economic growth.
House Democrats even set up a working group led by Reps. Nikki Budzinski (D-IL) and Mike Levin (D-CA) that’s reportedly focused on addressing gasoline and utility costs.
Rep. Christian Menefee (D-TX), a member of the working group, argued Democrats need to prioritize energy affordability:
“I’m glad Democrats are taking a hard look at what families are dealing with every month when those gas and utility bills show up.”
Bottom Line: With energy affordability top of mind for voters this election year, some Democrats are signaling they may back away from their most aggressive efforts to restrict oil and gas production.
The question is whether that stance will survive Election Day, or give way to legislation, litigation, and regulation that drive energy prices higher.
