Worried Democrats poised to pin blame for high gas prices on oil companies

Some House Democrats from oil-producing states fret that rushing to blame the industry could hurt the party in the midterms.

Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), who represents a Houston district that's full of oil and gas industry workers, said she thought bringing executives to the Hill to testify was worthwhile given rising gas prices but that Democrats shouldn't ratchet up their rhetoric so much that it alienates potential Democratic voters.

"Criticizing is fair, but we need to make sure that it doesn't get so bad that it is threatening and it might impact some election results," she said.