NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — European Union officials said Friday that Europeans can expect oil and gas prices to remain above what they were before the Iran war for at least until the end of 2027, with prices of other goods also following an upward trajectory.
EU Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said that higher energy prices are primarily responsible for driving inflation to a forecast 3.1% for this year and 2.4% for 2027. That’s significantly higher than the earlier forecast for this year of 1.9%.
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European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, second left, and President of the Eurogroup Kyriakos Pierrakakis, left, gather with European Finance ministers and Governors for a family photo during the Informal meeting of the economic and financial affairs council, in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde arrives at the conference center for the Eurogroup finance ministers meeting in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, left, and President of the Eurogroup Kyriakos Pierrakakis talk to the media during the Eurogroup finance ministers meeting in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
From left to right, European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, Implementation and Simplification Valdis Dombrovskis, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, President of the Eurogroup Kyriakos Pierrakakis, Managing Director and the European Stability Mechanism Pierre Gramegna talk to the media during the Eurogroup finance ministers meeting in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
“We expect that this energy inflation will gradually also trickle down to different sectors of the economy,” Dombrovskis said after a meeting of the 21-member eurozone's finance ministers, who make up the Eurogroup.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said that even if the conflict in the Middle East ended now, “lagging effects” would keep the prices of goods elevated.
“And it’s probably a fact that price levels will be higher at the end of this crisis, when we see the end of the crisis,” Lagarde said.
She said that the ECB would take “all the necessary measures” to keep price stability at 2% by paying close attention to the aftereffects of the initial economic shock brought on by the energy price hike. She also pointed to how much oil the EU holds in reserve to meet possible demand.
Eurogroup President Kyriakos Pierrakakis said that for the EU, an end to the crisis would mean a return to free navigation without the imposition of any tolls through the Strait of Hormuz, from which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes.
Pierrakakis affirmed that economic growth within the eurozone would reach 0.9% this year and 1.2% in 2027, lower than the previous forecast, “but clearly far from a recession scenario.”
Although higher inflation projections have led to predictions that the ECB would raise its interest rate benchmarks to combat inflation, Lagarde didn’t offer any indication of how the bank would act.
“We will continue to follow a data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach in order to determine the most appropriate monetary policy stance in order to deliver on our 2% medium-term target,” Lagarde said.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, second left, and President of the Eurogroup Kyriakos Pierrakakis, left, gather with European Finance ministers and Governors for a family photo during the Informal meeting of the economic and financial affairs council, in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde arrives at the conference center for the Eurogroup finance ministers meeting in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, left, and President of the Eurogroup Kyriakos Pierrakakis talk to the media during the Eurogroup finance ministers meeting in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
From left to right, European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, Implementation and Simplification Valdis Dombrovskis, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, President of the Eurogroup Kyriakos Pierrakakis, Managing Director and the European Stability Mechanism Pierre Gramegna talk to the media during the Eurogroup finance ministers meeting in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Over the last month, Democratic socialists have notched victories in the liberal strongholds of New York City, Washington, D.C., and Denver.
Now Francesca Hong, a single mother who has worked as a dishwasher and line cook, is trying to do the same with her campaign for governor in Wisconsin, a swing state known for razor-thin election margins where winning over moderate, independent voters is crucial.
Hong's candidacy has turned the Democratic primary on Aug. 11 into the latest test of just how far left voters are willing to go in the November midterms.
“We do this in Wisconsin, we’re going to change politics across the country,” the 37-year-old Hong said as she headed into the final month of campaigning. "People who are frustrated and have a lot more to lose — and I’m one of those people — are ready to coalesce around someone they can believe in.”
John Ravdabaugh, an undecided independent voter, came away impressed after hearing Hong speak at the retirement home where he lives. Even though the democratic socialist label concerns him, Ravdabaugh said he would consider voting for Hong.
“Every system reaches a point where change is necessary,” he said.
Whoever wins the primary will advance to almost certainly face Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, one of the most conservative members of the House, who has President Donald Trump’s endorsement. Tiffany has only token opposition in the primary.
The governor's race is integral to Democrats’ hopes of earning full control of Wisconsin state government for the first time since 2010, and it will send a signal about where the country's politics are headed by shaping a key political battleground that helps decide presidential campaigns.
Tiffany has focused much of his criticism on Hong and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, another Democratic candidate for governor.
“This November, the choice is common sense or crazy,” Tiffany posted on social media in June. Tiffany included screenshots of a Barnes post where he voiced support for cutting prison populations by half and Hong's posts where she advocates for defunding and abolishing the police.
As a candidate, Hong has not backed away from her calls to defund and abolish the police. Hong also supports increasing taxes on the wealthy and creating a state-owned bank to help pay for free health care and free child care, a $20 minimum wage, and a moratorium on data center construction.
Hong dismisses concerns that she’s too liberal to win over key independent voters in a state Trump carried twice and narrowly lost a third time.
“I worry that’s a miscalculation of where voters are at in our state, that we’re underestimating what people want,” Hong said in an interview.
Last month, democratic socialist Janeese Lewis George won the Democratic primary for mayor of Washington, setting herself up to clinch the office in November.
Then three congressional candidates backed by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, another democratic socialist, defeated establishment-backed politicians.
And just last week, democratic socialist Melat Kiros beat U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette in the Colorado primary, a stunning victory for the 29-year-old, first-time candidate against an incumbent who took office before she was born.
But those victories have been in either congressional or mayoral races in large urban centers, a far different landscape than Wisconsin.
In 1910, during socialism’s heyday in the United States, Milwaukee sent the first socialist to Congress and was the first major American city to elect a socialist mayor. Milwaukee elected two more socialist mayors before 1960.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, perhaps the best known democratic socialist, won all but one county in Wisconsin in the 2016 Democratic primary. In 2023, two state lawmakers from Milwaukee revived the socialist caucus in the Legislature, which had been dormant since 1935.
Hong, the first Asian American elected to the state Assembly in 2020, is one of four members of that caucus.
Barnes, 39, served four years in the state Assembly before his four years as lieutenant governor under Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. In 2022, Barnes came within 27,000 votes of ousting Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson.
“I’ve been around longer than anybody fighting these fights,” said Barnes, who grew up in Milwaukee and is vying to become Wisconsin's first Black governor.
He played down the idea that democratic socialists are surging.
“People aren’t looking for labels, necessarily,” he said. “People are looking for bold solutions.”
Longtime Democratic strategist Joe Zepecki, who is not working for any of the Democrats running this year, said Barnes has an advantage as the most well-known candidate in the race.
“I have believed from the day since Mandela Barnes got into the race, he's the favorite,” Zepecki said. “It is his race to lose.”
Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, a former nurse and health care executive who is also running for the Democratic nomination, said she'll have broader appeal in November. She cites her experience in the private sector and her flipping of a state Assembly seat in a conservative Milwaukee suburb, and she emphasizes her ideas for lowering costs for working people.
“I’m not worried about other candidates in this race,” Rodriguez said in an interview. “What I’m worried about is making my argument to Wisconsinites about why I’m the best person to lead the state, how I am going to fight for them."
She launched a $1 million television ad campaign this week that features her in nursing scrubs talking about taking on Tiffany and lowering health care costs.
Other Democratic candidates are state Sen. Kelda Roys, who has the endorsement of the statewide teachers union, and Joel Brennan, a former top aide to Evers.
Missy Hughes, the state’s former economic development director, dropped out of the race in June and endorsed Rodriguez. David Crowley, the top elected official in Milwaukee County, dropped out this week and also backed Rodriguez.
More moderate Democrats worry that nominating Hong could hurt them in the general election, especially in Wisconsin where independent voters are key in statewide races that are often decided by tiny margins.
Neera Tanden, who leads the Center for American Progress, said "it’s especially important in the age of Trump” to select viable candidates.
“In Wisconsin, whoever wins the general election will be the person overseeing elections in 2028 and whether people are seated in 2029.”
Evers won his two races for governor by just over 1 percentage point in 2018 and just over 3 points in 2022. Trump won Wisconsin by less than a point in 2024, and lost by less than a point in 2020.
Dave Smith, 72, a retired doctor from Madison who heard Hong speak Tuesday, said the democratic socialist label will be tough for voters of his generation to accept.
“The platform, much of that resonates well,” said Smith, who is undecided whom he will vote for in the Democratic primary. “My vote will likely go to who is the most electable in the fall.”
Associated Press writer Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this report.
FILE - Wisconsin Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mandela Barnes concedes to Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson at a news conference Nov. 9, 2022, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)
Francesca Hong, a Democratic socialist candidate for Wisconsin governor, speaks to voters at a retirement home, Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer)
