Six times since March, the House has voted on whether to pull U.S. forces out of the war with Iran.

John James voted no six times. He has not missed one.

The most recent was September 15, 2026. By that Friday, the average price of regular gasoline in Michigan had gone from $4.31 to $4.89 — 58 cents in a single week. Diesel went from $6.14 to $6.67, a record.

Three days after that vote, James sat down for a radio interview about Michigan's affordability crisis.

The six votes

Each of these was a war powers resolution — the mechanism Congress has for directing a president to withdraw forces from a conflict it never authorized. Each one asked the same question. James gave the same answer every time.

Look at the April and May rows. On April 16 the resolution failed by one vote. On May 14 it failed on a 212–212 tie — a tie fails. James was a no on both. Either one of those, flipped, ends the House's authorization fight differently.

He also voted yes on a separate March 5 resolution declaring Iran the largest state sponsor of terrorism — a symbolic measure with no force. So on the day he voted for the statement about Iran, he voted against the resolution that would have done something about the war.

What that war costs at a Michigan pump

The connection between the two is not a talking point. It is the reason the price moved.

Michigan's numbers over that one week, from AAA:

• Regular gasoline: $4.31 → $4.89
• Diesel: $6.14 → $6.67, an all-time high

Diesel is the one that spreads. It moves the groceries, the parts, the packages and the harvest. A record diesel price is a tax on everything that arrives on a truck, which in Michigan is nearly everything.

GasBuddy's head of petroleum analysis, Patrick De Haan, put the region on notice that week: "If you're in the Great Lakes — MI, IN, WI, IL, OH — you remain at risk of gas price increases today."

Then he went on the radio

On September 18, James appeared on WWJ with host Jackie Paige. The station's own summary of the segment is plain about the subject: "Fuel and grocery prices are taking center stage as the midterm elections approach. WWJ's Jackie Paige spoke with GOP gubernatorial candidate John James about he would tackle Michigan's affordability crisis if elected governor."

The Michigan Democratic Party, which flagged the interview, reports that when James was asked about the jump and about suspending the federal gas tax, he answered: "My thoughts on this is the fact that Democrats want to blame President Trump for everything, well, that's not going to fix all your problems."

That quote comes from his opponents' transcription of a radio segment, and we note that plainly. But the part that does not depend on anybody's transcript is the schedule. On Tuesday he voted to keep the forces in. By Friday the state's gas price was up 58 cents. That same Friday morning he was on the radio being asked what he would do about the cost of living in Michigan.

He is asking for a different job

James is not running for reelection to the House. He is the Republican nominee for governor of Michigan, which means a voter is being asked to judge him on the record he built in Congress.

That record on household costs already includes more than Iran. He is one of the seven Michigan Republicans who voted to keep Trump's tariffs in place — an estimated $23 billion bill, the equivalent of $5,619 per Michigan household and the highest per-household figure the National Taxpayers Union Foundation tracks. And he took utility money while Michigan electric bills climbed.

Gas, tariffs, electricity. In each case the vote went one way and the bill went the other.

What the record shows

John James voted no on all six House resolutions to remove U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran — March 5, April 16, May 14, June 3, July 23 and September 15, 2026 — with no absences. Two of those failed by nothing: one by a single vote on April 16, one on a 212–212 tie on May 14. In the week of his most recent no vote, Michigan's average regular gasoline price rose from $4.31 to $4.89 and diesel hit a record $6.67. Three days later he was on WWJ discussing Michigan's affordability crisis as a candidate for governor.

Sources

Roll-call records from the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House. Michigan price data from CBS News Detroit, citing AAA. The September 18 WWJ segment is archived here; the quoted line is as reported by the Michigan Democratic Party.