Jeanine Driscoll, the Republican challenging Democratic Rep. Laura Gillen in Long Island’s 4th Congressional District, said gas prices rarely come up when she talks with Nassau County voters.
On the campaign trail, Driscoll said, “People really are not complaining that much about the price of gas.” Speaking in an interview on Newsmax’s “Saturday Agenda” on Oct. 10, she added that voters are “intelligent enough to realize why we are paying more right now” and that she believes the price “is going to come down.”
How much are Long Islanders paying for gas?
The numbers tell a different story. Regular gas in the Nassau-Suffolk area averaged $4.34 a gallon on Tuesday, according to AAA’s daily price tracker, up from $3.02 a year ago, an increase of roughly 44%. Diesel has climbed to an average of $6.54 a gallon, within striking distance of the region’s all-time high of $6.65, set in May 2022.
The surge followed President Donald Trump’s war with Iran.
This spring, Fox News and Newsmax personalities urged viewers to accept higher prices as a patriotic sacrifice and predicted they would fall quickly. Driscoll struck a similar note on the same network.
What else did Driscoll say about affordability?
She downplayed other costs, too.
Driscoll named Nassau’s steep home prices as the biggest affordability concern for Long Islanders, then added, “It’s not much we can do about that, though.” Groceries, she conceded, are “still somewhat expensive.”
Long Islanders describe a sharper squeeze. Seniors across the region are paring back grocery purchases and postponing repairs, Newsday reported. “I can’t buy as much as I used to food-wise. The meat is too much,” Aida Mieles, an 82-year-old Freeport resident, told the paper.
What has Gillen done about gas prices?
Gillen, a first-term Democrat, has pushed several measures aimed at reducing the cost of getting to work.
Last month, she introduced the bipartisan Lower Commuting Costs Act with Republican Reps. Jeff Van Drew and Tom Kean Jr., both of New Jersey. The bill would let workers deduct up to $4,080 a year, or $340 a month, in commuting expenses from their federal income taxes, including gas, public transit, parking, and tolls such as New York City’s congestion pricing.
“With the rising price of gas, LIRR fares and the NYC congestion tax, working families are left with no affordable way to get to their jobs,” Gillen said in a statement announcing the bill.
In June, Gillen joined Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) and Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Long Island) in urging the Trump administration to raise IRS mileage rates, which would let rideshare drivers and others who drive for work deduct more per mile on their taxes as fuel costs climb.
Gillen has also taken direct aim at Driscoll on costs. “Jeanine Driscoll has no problem with you paying high prices for gas and groceries,” she wrote in a post on X on Oct. 13.
Driscoll has served as Hempstead’s receiver of taxes for seven years and has built her campaign around easing the burden on Nassau taxpayers, including a pledge to restore the full state and local tax (SALT) deduction.
The 4th District, which covers southwestern Nassau County, is one of New York’s most closely watched House races. The Cook Political Report rates the race as leaning Democratic, and Gillen had about 17 times as much cash on hand as Driscoll as of June 30, according to Long Island Press’ analysis of Federal Election Commission filings. Election Day is Nov. 3.
Driscoll’s campaign did not respond to Courier New York’s request for comment.
