Virginia drivers paid an average of $4.202 a gallon on May 5, 2026 — the highest the Commonwealth has seen since late July 2022. Northern Virginia drivers paid $4.287. Fairfax County drivers paid $4.408. One year ago, the state average was $3.01. Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) has the bully pulpit to call a special session of the General Assembly and push for a temporary suspension of Virginia’s motor fuels tax. The question is whether she will.
The numbers are not in dispute.
Virginia regular unleaded: $4.202 a gallon, May 5, 2026 average. Northern Virginia: $4.287. Fairfax County: $4.408. Alexandria: $4.418. Arlington: $4.405. The cheapest Wawa in the county was reporting $4.05. A year ago Virginia drivers were paying $3.01.
Northern Virginia Magazine attributed the spike to “the ongoing war in Iran and instability in the Strait of Hormuz; about 20% of the world’s oil typically travels through the strait.” The cause sits across an ocean. The pain at the pump sits in every Fairfax driver’s tank.
Here is what the Commonwealth controls. Virginia’s motor fuels tax — the per-gallon levy collected by the state at the pump — currently runs roughly 30.8 cents on every gallon of gasoline, indexed annually. On a 15-gallon fill-up, that is $4.62 of every receipt going to Richmond. On 50 fill-ups a year — the typical Fairfax commuter household — that is roughly $231 a year per vehicle.
The Governor of Virginia cannot unilaterally suspend the gas tax. But the Governor of Virginia can call a special session of the General Assembly to do exactly that. The Governor can use the bully pulpit to force every legislator on record. The Governor can ask Richmond to pass a 90-day fuels-tax holiday and let Fairfax families keep that $231.
It would not be unprecedented. Spanberger’s Republican predecessor, Glenn Youngkin, proposed exactly that in spring 2022, when the state-average price was lower than it is today. Richmond Democrats voted it down.
Spanberger has not proposed it. As of this writing, the Governor’s office has not announced a special session. The Governor’s office has not asked Richmond Democrats to bring the suspension back to the floor. The Governor’s office has not sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Sen. Scott Surovell (D-SD-34, Mount Vernon) or Speaker Don Scott (D) requesting a fuels-tax holiday. The Governor has the microphone. The microphone is off.
The personal-property car tax — the local annual levy on vehicle value — is similar. Fairfax County collects it. The Commonwealth reimburses a portion to localities under the Personal Property Tax Relief Act. The Governor and General Assembly together can adjust the formula, expand the relief, or push localities to backfill the difference. They have not.
So Fairfax families are paying $4.40 for gas, paying the local car tax, and watching the same Democrat majority that controls every lever in Richmond do nothing about either.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors made the same choice on a different bill last week. They adopted a $5.7 billion FY27 budget that pushes the average household tax bill up roughly $337. The 4% county meals tax stayed. The Democrat majority approved it 9-1, with Pat Herrity (R-Springfield) the lone no.
Stack the squeeze. Higher gas. Higher county tax bill. A federal SNAP overhaul that took aid from 2.5 million Americans. And not one elected Virginia Democrat — not Spanberger, not Surovell, not Scott — has put the suspension of a single Commonwealth tax on the table.
The microphone is still on the desk. Spanberger could pick it up tomorrow. Will she?
Are higher gas prices changing your transportation habits?
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Whatever you voted, the Commonwealth gas tax is still 30.8 cents on every gallon you pump. The Governor still hasn’t asked Richmond to suspend it. Sen. Scott Surovell (D-SD-34, Mount Vernon) is up for reelection in November 2027. Spanberger’s first re-elect window opens November 2029. Mark those dates down.
The Fairfax County Republican Committee runs on volunteers — neighbors who knock doors, neighbors who write letters to the editor, neighbors who show up. No one can do everything; everyone can do something. Volunteer with the Fairfax GOP.
And keep the lights on while Richmond does nothing about the pump. Out-of-state Democrat PAC money is already flowing into Virginia for November 3, 2026. Local money is what answers it. Donate to the Fairfax County Republican Committee. Match yours with a neighbor’s. Forward this to the commuter who just paid $4.40 at the Wawa.