New analysis from Innovation Ohio shows that Ohioans have paid more than $947,000,000 extra – that’s not a typo – to fill up their tanks since President Trump plunged the country into a reckless, unauthorized war in Iran with no plan to win and no strategy to end it. 

Every week since Trump’s Mideast folly began, Ohioans have paid an average of $86 million more to fill their tanks than before the first bombs dropped. Last week alone, that number hit $147 million. Innovation Ohio calculated the total additional cost to Ohioans using AAA weekly fuel prices and Ohio Department of Taxation data on gallons sold - full methodology here. Nationally, Americans spent an extra $24 billion on gas between March 1 and May 4, according to Gas Buddy. 

This massive increase works out to an extra $80 spent on gas for every adult and child in Ohio. That’s money Ohio families could have spent on groceries, rent, or other bills. 

Yet as Ohioans paid at the pump, Sen. Jon Husted voted five times against using congressional authority to end the war, saying the conflict has been “good news for the global economy.” 

“Ohioans are being squeezed by a war we don’t want and never asked for every time we drive to the grocery store, commute to work, or drop our kids off at school,”  said Innovation Ohio President and CEO Michael McGovern. “It’s all because MAGA Republicans like Jon Husted care more about making Trump happy than looking out for the people they represent.” 

Husted has voted five times against limiting Trump’s ability to wage war on Iran – most recently on April 30.  Husted toed the party line even after Trump bombed a school full of children and threatened to kill “a whole civilization.” He stood by Trump after three Ohio service members came home in body bags. Ohio farmers, who were slammed by tariffs last year, say they’re struggling even more due to fertilizer shortages caused by Trump’s war. 

“Husted’s agenda is simple: Help Trump and his billionaire backers amass more wealth and power  – regardless of how it harms Ohioans,” McGovern said. “We need leaders who will stand up for Ohio families. But Husted is most comfortable tucked away in Trump’s pocket.”