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Some 70 percent of Americans say, to the best of their knowledge, that gas prices have increased in their local area, according to a recent poll showing that the issue might be a thorn in Joe Biden's side for his 2024 campaign.
The exclusive poll was conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies on behalf of Newsweek between September 3 and 4 with a sample population of 1,500 eligible voters.
While a majority of respondents thought that gas prices had jumped up recently, some 21 percent of those surveyed believed that gas prices had remained the same and 5 percent said they had decreased. Crucially, 66 percent of those who voted for Biden in 2020 believed gas prices have increased.
Gas prices have dropped across the country since June 2022, when they reached a peak of an average $5.06 per gallon across the country, but have been surging again in the past few weeks.
At the beginning of the year, gas prices were on average $3.2 per gallon, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information administration (EIA). By the end of the same month, they had risen to $3.4 per gallon, while in the following months they hovered steadily over the $3 per gallon mark.
Last month saw a sudden spike in gas prices, with the national average reaching $3.8 per gallon. As of September 7, the national average gas price was $3.803 per gallon, according to AAA.
A majority of respondents to the Redfield & Wilton Strategies/Newsweek poll blamed the Biden administration for the surge in gas prices, with 55 percent saying that the recent increase was "primarily" caused by the U.S. government mismanagement.
Only 29 percent of respondents who voted for Biden in 2020 believed higher gas prices were the government's fault, while 80 percent of those surveyed who voted for Donald Trump in the last presidential election blamed the president and his administration.
Some 26 percent thought higher prices were primarily due to destructive global events.
Gas expert Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at Gas Buddy, previously told Newsweek that while Biden and his administration had little to no role in the recent rise in gas prices, that may not spare him voters' anger.
"We've seen a lot of movement [since 2021] and a lot of it is related to things that are completely separate from the White House," DeHaan said. "COVID-19 was front and center, it caused gas prices to initially decline during the pandemic and then to skyrocket as it eased and the American economy started to recover."
Several refineries also closed or repurposed their infrastructure to accommodate the production of greener energy. This move, as well as the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, "really caused hardship, with prices jumping to the highest level we've seen in the US," DeHaan said.
Gas prices remain high now because "crude oil and gasoline prices in conjunction recently reached the highest levels of the year in the wholesale markets," Denton Cinquegrana, chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service (OPIS), told Newsweek.
Thomas Gift, founding director of the UCL Centre on U.S. Politics in London, told Newsweek that lingering high gas prices could be an issue for Biden during his campaign for re-election.
"For Republicans, it's a talking point they'll no doubt drive home as they snatch the spotlight in the next several months in primary debates and on the campaign trail," he said.
About the writer
Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property ... Read more