Both major party candidates for Iowa’s open U.S. Senate seat are calling for steps to ease the price of gasoline and diesel.
Democrat Josh Turek rolled out a series of proposals last Wednesday. He said the federal gas tax should be temporarily suspended and exports of U.S. produced diesel should be halted. “That was something that even Senator Grassley agreed with me on,” Turek said.
On Sunday, Grassley suggested an embargo on diesel exports because, Grassley said: “diesel prices ARE KILLING FARMERS INCOME.” AAA’s website indicates diesel is now averaging just over $6.31 a gallon in Iowa.
“Everywhere I’m going, particularly in rural communities as we’re in harvest season…it’s just an all-time bad moment for them — high interest rates, commodity prices being low, diesel prices being at an all-time high,” Turek said this morning. “I think the tariffs and the war have hurt Iowans and Iowa rural communities and farmers more than any other state.”
This morning Ashley Hinson, the Republican running for the U.S. Senate, posted a statement on social media. “Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn’t have to foot the bill at the pump or the check-out line for the war in Iran,” Hinson said. She called for a suspension of the gas tax, pausing diesel exports and creating a diesel relief program to help farmers and truckers. During a campaign stop in Des Moines, Turek told reporters the federal government should provide whatever relief it can to farmers.
“Farmers are hurting and they’re hurting uniquely,” he said. “Everywhere I’m going I’m hearing farmers saying: ‘This is just one gut punch after another. I’m looking at what my input prices are going to be and this isn’t going to work.’ I mean, I’m hearing that from century farmers saying: ‘I’m really, really concerned I’m going to go into foreclosure.'”
Turek has also called for tapping into the country’s strategic oil reserve to boost fuel production as a way to lower prices for consumers. Hinson is calling for the $1 per gallon tax credit for biodiesel production that expired in 2024 to be reinstated.