Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) wants the Iran war over. He just doesn't want to be the one who votes to end it.
"The war needs to come to an end as quickly as possible so that we can lower gas prices," Husted told Politico, his most direct comments yet on the conflict. Husted joins Iowa's Ashley Hinson and Michigan's Mike Rogers, both Senate hopefuls who publicly split from President Donald Trump on the war this week, as economic anxiety pushes an increasing number of Republican candidates to put daylight between themselves and the president.
Yet when a Democratic-backed war powers resolution comes to the floor this week, Husted's office confirms he'll vote no. Allies say a genuine rupture with Trump isn't something he's willing to risk, particularly with the president and Vice President J.D. Vance planning campaign stops in Ohio to boost him.
The stakes for Husted are steep: Democrat Sherrod Brown, the former senator he's trying to keep out of a comeback, currently holds a narrow polling edge, and party strategists rank the seat among their most urgent worries for holding the Senate majority.
"I don't know anybody that doesn't want the war to come to an end," Husted said, while maintaining he still believes Iran needs to reach an actual deal with Trump.
The gas-price backlash extends well past Ohio. In Iowa, Reps. Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks are now pushing emergency fixes such as banning diesel exports, and Alaska's Dan Sullivan floated the same idea Tuesday without weighing in on the war itself. Others, like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), warn this could actually raise prices, since the U.S. refines more imported diesel than domestic diesel and an export ban could result in retaliatory bans against the U.S.
Meanwhile, rather than tackle federal energy policy, Husted has pointed to a state-level fix, throwing his weight behind a temporary pause on Ohio's gas tax. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton floated the same idea Monday, with Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and other GOP figures picking it up soon after.
"I think in the long run we are going to have lower gas prices," Husted said, pointing to both the Iran and Ukraine wars as drivers of high diesel costs. "It's taking longer than any of us wish it would. So in the interim... the idea of providing relief from the gas tax for Ohioans for a short period of time is a reasonable thing for Governor DeWine to consider."