Checking in with swing state voters on how gas prices are affecting them
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Gas prices have fallen slightly in recent days, but a gallon of regular is still well over a dollar more than it was this time last year. NPR senior political correspondent Tamara Keith checked in with voters she's following as a part of a project that we're calling Swing Shift. They all live in swing states and have a history of voting for candidates from both parties.
TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: How much is a gallon of gas? It depends on where you live.
COLLEEN: Gas was $4.37 a gallon.
JOHN: Gasoline in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area - the region - is roughly around $4.25.
EVAN: Gas was 4.30 a gallon.
GERALD: Currently Georgia's like 3.90.
JASON: I think I just paid 3.89.
TERESA: Four dollars and 69 cents for the cheap gas. For the cheap gas.
KEITH: That was Colleen (ph), John (ph), Evan (ph), Gerald (ph), Jason (ph) and Teresa (ph). We agreed not to use their full names so they could speak freely about politics and their economic situations without fear of personal or professional repercussions. Lee (ph) lives in Nevada, where gas prices are even higher.
LEE: I hear people on the East Coast and the Midwest paying $3 a gallon when I'm paying 5.50 for the same gas.
KEITH: He's upset that gas prices are so much higher out west and blames Democrats for that. He voted for former President Joe Biden in 2020 but switched to President Trump in 2024. Yes, Trump started the war with Iran, but Lee points out prices were even higher four years ago.
LEE: It's time we finally take care of Iran and get them handled. And if we have to deal with the high gas prices for a couple of months, so be it.
KEITH: Earlier this month, gas prices spiked in the Midwest. It was a combination of problems with refinery operations and high global oil prices. That's unfortunately when Michelle (ph) in Michigan went to fill up her tank.
MICHELLE: It was $4.96 per gallon. Wow.
KEITH: This was regular unleaded at one of the cheapest stations around. She swung to Trump in 2024 and is living on a fixed income.
MICHELLE: I feel very frustrated and kind of shocked when I think about it. I know many - just speaking to the many that were at the station filling up, that was a conversation.
SUMMERS: Teresa lives outside of Pittsburgh. She's been shopping around for the best gas prices and is already worried what heating her home will cost this winter. She voted for Trump in 2024 and says this is going to affect her vote in November.
TERESA: I'm just really going to watch and look at these candidates more carefully to see who I feel is going to be more responsive to our needs and to be able to help out the middle class because right now, we are suffering.
KEITH: Colleen, also in Pennsylvania, voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024. She says she's thinking about what she may have to give up to keep filling the tank.
COLLEEN: Telling my kiddos, we have to cut back on some stuff so that we can pay to put gas in the car and get from point A to point B.
KEITH: She doesn't feel like political leaders are showing enough concern.
COLLEEN: I don't know. I guess their pockets are deeper than mine. So yeah, maybe I should start thinking more about politics as I fill up.
KEITH: In a recent NPR/PBS News/Marist poll, 81% of respondents said current gas prices are a strain on their household budget. Tamara Keith, NPR News.
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