Republican Iowa Senate candidate Ashley Hinson asked supporters to help provide “gas money” for her campaign bus this week, prompting Democratic opponent Josh Turek to seize on the remark as Iowa motorists and farmers contend with elevated fuel costs.
Hinson made the request Wednesday during a campaign stop in Fort Dodge as part of her statewide bus tour.
“Use that anger about these lies that they're telling about us on TV, cause if they're willing to lie about me, they're willing to lie about you,” Hinson told supporters. “So I want you to channel that into action in getting your friends out to vote, help give us a little gas money for our bus, make sure we're showing up at the polls, because there is more to do.”
Turek responded Friday by highlighting the irony of Hinson asking supporters for “gas money” after repeatedly voting against measures aimed at ending U.S. involvement in the Iran war.
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“Now she's begging for gas money while Iowans are struggling to fill up their tanks and Iowa farmers are struggling to afford the diesel to harvest their fields,” Turek wrote on X. “That's shameful.”
Newsweek reached out to both campaigns for additional comment Saturday.
Gas Prices Remain High in Iowa
The exchange comes as fuel prices have become a prominent issue in the closing weeks of the Iowa Senate race.
AAA put Iowa's average price for regular gasoline at about $4.14 a gallon Saturday, up from about $2.72 a year earlier. Diesel averaged about $6.07 a gallon, compared with roughly $3.43 one year earlier.
Nationally, AAA said this week that gasoline prices remained unusually high for the time of year while crude oil prices remained elevated.
The cost of fuel has already featured prominently in the contest between Hinson and Turek, in part because of their disagreement over the continuing war in Iran.
During the candidates' final debate Tuesday, Turek argued that the conflict was contributing to higher gasoline, diesel and agricultural input costs in Iowa. He accused Hinson of having voted seven times to continue the conflict, a characterization tied to her votes against resolutions aimed at limiting President Donald Trump's ability to continue U.S. involvement in the war.
Hinson has defended those votes while also calling for the conflict to end.
At the debate, she said she wanted an end to the war but argued the United States needed assurances that Iran would not develop a nuclear weapon. She said she trusted the American military to achieve that objective.
Both candidates also opposed Trump's move to ease sanctions affecting Russian diesel imports.
“We need to lower diesel prices, but I don't think we need to be making a deal with Russia to do it,” Hinson said during the debate.
She suggested temporarily lowering the gas tax, potentially creating a diesel rebate program for agricultural producers and expanding American biofuels as ways to reduce fuel costs.
Turek similarly opposed relying on Russian diesel, saying lower prices should not come at the expense of benefiting Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Candidates Clash Over Iran and Fuel Costs
Hinson has sought to establish her own position on rising fuel prices while distancing herself from some of the administration's energy policies.
During her Fort Dodge appearance, she said there was “more to do to drive down the cost of gas and groceries.” She has also supported pausing fuel taxes and has said the Iran war needs to end.
Turek, meanwhile, has proposed temporarily suspending federal and state gas taxes, suspending diesel exports and tapping strategic oil reserves. He has argued that ending the Iran war is ultimately necessary to bring fuel costs down.
The issue has particular resonance in a major agricultural state heading into the November election.
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Karen Kedrowski, a political science professor at Iowa State University, previously told Newsweek following this week's debate that Hinson's decision to break with Trump over Russian diesel was notable in an agriculture-heavy state where diesel costs matter to farmers and other rural voters.
Steffen W. Schmidt, a political science professor at Iowa State University, previously told Newsweek that Turek could benefit from making fuel prices part of his attacks against Hinson.
“In a contest that's this tight and close, I would not be surprised to see Turek catch up with and pass Hinson, especially since he effectively connected her to wealthy Americans and Trump-related gas and diesel price hikes,” Schmidt said.
The gas-money remark has provided Turek with another opportunity to make that case as the candidates head into the final weeks of their campaign.
Iowa Senate Race Remains Tight
Hinson and Turek are competing for the open Senate seat being vacated by retiring Republican Senator Joni Ernst.
A Marist Poll conducted October 8 through 11 found Turek supported by 48 percent of likely Iowa voters and Hinson by 45 percent. The margin of error among likely voters was plus or minus 6.6 percentage points, meaning the difference was within the poll's margin of error.
A YouGov survey conducted October 6 through 12 found Turek at 47 percent and Hinson at 46 percent among 2,245 likely voters, with a 3.1 percentage-point margin of error.
Other surveys have shown Hinson narrowly ahead. An Emerson College poll conducted October 5 and 6 among 650 likely voters put Hinson at 47 percent and Turek at 45 percent, with a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points.
RealClearPolling lists a YouGov survey conducted October 6 through 12 among 2,245 likely voters that found Turek at 47 percent and Hinson at 46 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
The contest comes in a state Trump won by more than 13 percentage points in 2024, making the closely divided race for Ernst's seat one of the more closely watched Senate battles of the midterms.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.