Reuters: As Winter Nears, Heating Oil Emerges as Hurdle for Republicans in U.S. Senate Races

MANCHESTER, N.H. — As temperatures across the northern U.S. plummet, Reuters highlighted the strain skyrocketing home heating oil costs are putting on household budgets including for the 43% of Granite Staters who rely on home heating oil to stay warm through the winter.

Trump’s war in Iran, which Trump-endorsed John Sununu called “important and critical” and a “success,” is straining global energy markets and forcing Granite Staters to pay the price while Sununu is profiting from inflated oil and gas costs.

Chris Pappas is fighting to provide relief for New Hampshire families, including through his recently introduced American Homes First Act, which would increase funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to help more Granite Staters get by this winter. More than 20% of New Hampshire households rely on LIHEAP to help keep their homes warm.

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Reuters: As winter nears, heating oil emerges as hurdle for Republicans in US Senate races

By Tim McLaughlin, Nichola Groom, Timothy Gardner and Leah Douglas, 10/24/26

  • Eighty-year-old Rick Russman of New Hampshire spent five decades as a Republican. 
  • This year, as his state braces for a winter ​of soaring heating oil costs, he will vote for Democrat Chris Pappas in one of the country’s most closely watched Senate races.
  • For Russman, a resident of Kingston, the situation has become ‌so dire that he will rely on a wood stove to help heat his home this winter rather than on heating oil alone. “Fuel that costs more than $6 a gallon is a huge expense,” he said.
  • High heating oil prices are a potent issue in northern states that depend on the fuel like Maine, New Hampshire and Alaska, which have competitive Senate races on November 3 that could determine whether Trump’s fellow Republicans maintain control of Congress, according to Reuters interviews with 15 voters, candidates and strategists.
  • Democratic candidates have ​sought to tie the higher costs to Trump’s war with Iran, which has disrupted global diesel supplies. The shortage drove prices for diesel, which is similar to heating oil, to a record high above $6.50 ​a gallon, making groceries and consumer staples more expensive.
  • […]
  • Heating oil ​prices have climbed above $6 per gallon nationally, up from about $3.50 a year ago, according to the Energy Information Administration.
  • The costs are a headwind for Republicans, said Lance Dutson, a Republican strategist in Maine. “The party in power is held ​responsible for things like that, and it’s so clearly Trump’s fault because of this Iran war.”
  • Nearly 80% of Americans blame Trump policies for higher costs including energy, according to an October Reuters/Ipsos poll.
  • In New Hampshire, where 43% of residents use heating oil, Pappas said energy dominates voters’ concerns as he challenges Republican John Sununu.
  • “Energy costs and heating oil prices are the beginning and end of every conversation I’m having on the campaign trail,” Pappas said.
  • Sununu’s campaign did not respond to several requests for comment.
  • […]

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