On a Wednesday in late August, two of the country’s biggest oil producers sent money to the same pair of Washington super PACs. ConocoPhillips, routing its checks through an Alaska North Slope marketing subsidiary, gave $1.5 million apiece to the Senate Leadership Fund and the Congressional Leadership Fund. Chevron added $750,000 to the Senate fund that same day.
The transfers barely registered in a midterm season consumed by grocery bills and data centers. But third-quarter filings show the fossil fuel industry playing the 2026 elections with more nuance than simply flooding Republican coffers with oil money — spending heavily in Washington, selectively in the states and, in one marquee ballot fight, opposing a measure that would write natural gas into a state constitution. Almost everywhere, the financial push is aimed at affordability rather than fighting climate action.
