California drivers are feeling the cost of the Iran war every time they fill up.
Average gas prices across the state topped $6 a gallon this week, a 30% jump since the US and Israel launched military strikes against Iran in late February. In San Diego County, that spike is becoming a campaign issue.
Voters in California’s 48th Congressional District, which spans inland and North San Diego County and reaches into southern Riverside County, are pressing Republican Jim Desmond on why he supported a war that has driven up the cost of driving for average Californians.
Desmond, who represents District 5 on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, is now running for Congress. Republican Darrel Issa currently represents the district and plans to vacate his seat after Proposition 50 redrew district boundaries to favor democratic territories. The congressman has personally endorsed Desmond as his successor.
Desmond has built his campaign around affordability. He has pledged to restore the “California Dream” by cutting taxes, reducing what he calls excessive regulations, and tackling the soaring costs he says are “driving families out of the state.”
How high gas prices are complicating this Southern California race
Some supporters have pointed out that gas price spikes have other causes, including California’s fuel taxes, refinery supply, and environmental rules. Desmond has acknowledged that the war is driving gas prices higher. Appearing on the right-wing network Real America’s Voice in March, he defended it as a necessary price for national security: “no pain, no gain.”
The war is also costly for the federal budget. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the six-month conflict has cost the U.S. $38 billion so far, and expenses are expected to grow by $3 billion each month.
Public opinion in the state has turned sharply against the conflict. Three in four Californians disapprove of U.S. military action against Iran, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. In CA-48 specifically, 61% of voters say the war is making Americans less safe.
His Democratic opponent, Marni Von Wilpert, has made the war’s economic fallout a centerpiece of her campaign, arguing that since Trump declared war on Iran, rising diesel costs are squeezing the district’s farmers.
She has called for ending the $29 billion being sent to fund a foreign war. “I’m deeply disturbed that President Trump is moving us toward another regime-change war without Congressional authorization, public support, or a clearly defined mission” she said in February 2026.
With gas prices climbing and the war’s costs mounting, Desmond must convince voters that his affordability message and his support for the war can go hand in hand.
Election Day is November 3. Voters can check their registration and plan their voting.
