Two GOP Senate Candidates Break With Trump, Urge Swift End to Iran War
Republican Senate candidates Ashley Hinson and Mike Rogers urged a swift end to the Iran war and relief at the pump, distancing themselves from Trump.
Two Republican Senate candidates in competitive races have called for a swift end to the war in Iran, breaking with President Donald Trump on a conflict that has driven fuel costs sharply higher.
Ashley Hinson, a sitting US representative running in Iowa against Democrat Josh Turek, and Mike Rogers, who is contesting Michigan against Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, both struck a more dovish tone on Monday after previously backing Trump's authority to strike Tehran.
Hinson's shift was especially pronounced. She has voted six times against House measures aimed at curbing Trump's war powers, most recently last week. On social media, she said Iowans were being squeezed and should not bear the cost of the war at the pump or the checkout line. She called for suspending gasoline taxes, pausing diesel exports and bringing the conflict to a successful and immediate end.
Rogers, speaking from a grocery store in a campaign ad posted on X, said the war needed to end quickly and that energy costs would fall once it did. He also backed suspending state and federal gasoline taxes and a temporary halt on US diesel exports. He had earlier argued against limiting the president's authority while negotiations to end the conflict were under way.
The remarks reflect mounting concern among some vulnerable Republican candidates that the nearly seven-month-old conflict is becoming a political liability before November's midterms, which will decide whether the party keeps its narrow House and Senate majorities. Diesel prices carry particular political weight in Iowa, where agriculture relies heavily on diesel-powered equipment and transport.
Democrats dismissed the moves as election-year repositioning. El-Sayed said Rogers was flip-flopping only because gasoline had reached $5 a gallon and diesel prices had hit record highs. Turek said Hinson had chosen not to vote to end the war when she had the chance.
The shift comes as Americans have grown dissatisfied with Trump's handling of both the economy and the war amid stubborn inflation. His approval rating fell to 32%, a career low, in the latest Varta Wire/Ipsos poll released on Monday.
Other Republicans have also moved to distance themselves from the president. Last week, Iowa Representatives Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks reversed their earlier positions and joined Democrats in voting to limit Trump's war powers on Iran. On Thursday, Florida Representative Maria Elvira Salazar released an ad warning that Trump's immigration crackdown had gone too far and that some Hispanic supporters felt betrayed.