‘Foreign policy is the economy’: How Iran war is shaping US midterm vote

With the US midterm elections less than two weeks away, Democrats are framing the eight-month war with Iran as an affordability issue, tying it to rising fuel and grocery prices and using it to attack Republican candidates backed by President Donald Trump.

The argument was on display at this week's Senate debate in Michigan, where Democrat Abdul El-Sayed contrasted himself with Republican rival Mike Rogers. El-Sayed said voters need a senator who will back a War Powers Resolution to curb the war, rather than one who would 'stand hip-to-hip with Donald Trump on this war that made no sense.'

The war began on February 28, when the US and Israel began attacking Iran, and Tehran responded by disrupting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil and gas prices sharply higher. The energy shock has fed inflation at a time when affordability defines the campaign, and analyst Jonathan Guyer called the conflict 'a kitchen table issue.'

Trump and his allies say the war was necessary to stop Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon, though the report notes Trump had previously said Iran's nuclear programme was 'obliterated' by June 2025 US strikes, and US intelligence officials told Congress they have no evidence Iran is building one.

Rogers has sought to have it both ways, defending the war during the debate while running a campaign ad saying it 'needs to end, and end quickly.' Other Republicans in tough races, including Ohio Senator Jon Husted, have likewise urged a swift end, even as Trump has praised the campaign and suggested he could renew fighting.