The Argument
- What: Michigan gasoline prices surged in the final full week before the November 3 election. The statewide average reached $4.82 a gallon on Monday, October 26, up 33 cents from a week earlier, according to AAA. That is about $72 for a full 15-gallon tank. (FACT: Detroit Free Press, Oct. 26, 2026, citing AAA.)
- Jackson’s number: Jackson averaged $4.77 a gallon on Sunday, listed by AAA among Michigan’s least expensive metro averages, behind only Marquette at $4.65 and Benton Harbor at $4.75. The most expensive were metro Detroit at $4.89, Ann Arbor at $4.81 and Flint at $4.81. Jackson being near the cheap end of Michigan is still $4.77. (FACT: Detroit Free Press, Oct. 26, 2026.)
- Diesel: Diesel was $6.81 a gallon in Michigan. It hit an all-time Michigan high of nearly $7 in September. Diesel is the freight price, so it is also the grocery, delivery and construction price working its way through Jackson stores. (FACT: Detroit Free Press, Oct. 26, 2026.)
- Why now, in one sentence: Crude oil spiked to $116 a barrel on Friday, a new global high since April, and a catalytic reformer at the ExxonMobil refinery in Joliet, Illinois, a supplier to Michigan and four other Midwest states, was taken offline a week ago with no announced restart date. (FACT: Detroit Free Press, Oct. 26, 2026.)
The two causes, verified
Oil. The ongoing war in the Middle East has led to extreme price volatility and oil in short supply, the Free Press reported. Crude spiked Friday to $116 a barrel, and had come down a few dollars by Monday but was still more than $100 a barrel. AAA Michigan spokeswoman Adrienne Woodland said elevated oil prices are adding significant upward pressure to what motorists are paying, calling this week’s increase another hit to Michigan drivers. (FACT: Detroit Free Press, Oct. 26, 2026.)
The refinery. Fuel prices across the Midwest were also elevated because of the shutdown at the ExxonMobil refinery in Joliet, Illinois, according to a report by the BOE Report, which follows the petroleum industry. The catalytic reformer taken offline a week ago supplies Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin. It was unclear when the refinery would be operational again. The same refinery suffered a power outage in September that led to a two-week shutdown and a price spike. (FACT: Detroit Free Press, Oct. 26, 2026.)
The record nobody wanted. Nationally, the average price of gasoline, $4.29 a gallon, is the highest it has ever been this late in the year. This is the first year, AAA noted, that the national average has ever been higher than $4 a gallon in October. Prices normally fall after summer, and winter-blend gasoline is cheaper to produce, which makes an October surge doubly unusual. (FACT: Detroit Free Press, Oct. 26, 2026.)
The campaign fight over the pump
Gas prices have become a central midterm issue. At a Ferndale Mobil station at 22500 Woodward on Monday morning, regular was $5.19 a gallon. Randy Bilot, 40, putting $60 into his Ford F-150, called it way too high, said it was about $4.60 just five days earlier, and expected to keep paying more as long as the war with Iran persisted. (FACT: Detroit Free Press, Oct. 26, 2026.)
President Donald Trump, who campaigned on bringing prices down to $2 a gallon and less, said while campaigning in Georgia on Saturday that gasoline prices were temporarily high and would be falling dramatically in a short period of time, as soon as that war is over. Former President Barack Obama, rallying in Detroit the same day, lambasted Trump’s policies, pointing to soaring oil and fuel prices and blaming Trump for failing to fulfill campaign promises. The Free Press also reported Trump’s approval rating at a record low of 31% in a Reuters/Ipsos poll, with 68% of Americans disapproving of his handling of the economy. (FACT: Detroit Free Press, Oct. 26, 2026.)
GasBuddy’s Patrick De Haan said the relief motorists and policymakers have been hoping for heading into the midterm elections remains elusive, even as several states have suspended fuel taxes and the Trump administration has pulled virtually every lever available. (FACT: Detroit Free Press, Oct. 26, 2026.)
(COMMENTARY: Jackson voters are being asked to judge the economy while standing at the pump, and the pump is not cooperating with anyone’s campaign. The honest local read is the two-cause one above: a war-driven oil spike Jackson cannot control, and a single Illinois refinery unit Jackson cannot fix. What Jackson households can do is arithmetic: at $4.82 statewide and $4.77 here, a 15-gallon fill is about $72, and every week this lasts is a real line item, not a talking point. Watch the Joliet restart date. It is the fastest local relief signal there is, and no speech changes it.)
FAQs
What is the average gas price in Michigan and Jackson right now?
Michigan averaged $4.82 a gallon on Monday, October 26, up 33 cents in a week. Jackson averaged $4.77 on Sunday, among the state’s lowest metro averages. (FACT: AAA via Detroit Free Press, Oct. 26, 2026.)
What is diesel in Michigan?
$6.81 a gallon, after hitting an all-time Michigan high of nearly $7 in September. (FACT: Detroit Free Press, Oct. 26, 2026.)
Why did Michigan gas prices surge this week?
Crude oil spiked to $116 a barrel Friday amid the Middle East war, and a catalytic reformer at the ExxonMobil Joliet, Illinois refinery, which supplies Michigan and four other Midwest states, was taken offline a week ago with no announced restart. (FACT: Detroit Free Press, Oct. 26, 2026.)
Is $4 gas in October normal?
No. AAA says the national average of $4.29 is the highest ever this late in the year, and 2026 is the first year the national average has ever been above $4 in October. (FACT: Detroit Free Press, Oct. 26, 2026.)
Source links
- Michigan gas prices, a campaign issue, are up as early voting starts (Detroit Free Press, Oct. 26, 2026): https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2026/10/26/michigan-gasoline-prices-surging-election/92441491007/
AI-generated header image: the header image for this article is an AI-generated illustration, not a photograph.
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