In November, Texas Gov.
Greg Abbott declared his state the “epicenter of AI development” while announcing a $40 billion investment by Google.
Democrats around the country are deploying the same playbook. Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive running for Senate in Michigan, has claimed his opponent, former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers, wants to put the centers in the backyards of voters in the state.
“The data-center issue is the latest example of a governor who has been doing the bidding of moneyed interests instead of the people of Texas,” Hinojosa said in an interview. Abbott has said companies have agreed to guardrails that minimize disruptions to local water and power markets, showing his plan is working and protecting Texas communities. Hinojosa, a state representative, says protections should be enshrined in law. “People really effing hate data centers,” he said at a July campaign event.
He introduced legislation in Congress last month codifying stricter standards for the facilities. Neither candidate has backed a moratorium like progressive Francesca Hong, who lost to Crowley in the primary last week, and both have supported some restrictions. In Ohio, Sherrod Brown—the former Democratic senator and his party’s nominee in this year’s Senate contest—is targeting Republican Sen. The warning has put the party at odds with its own president. Other Republicans wielding data centers to attack opponents include Rep.
Because of the economic benefits they present, trump on Wednesday said he would welcome the centers in his state if he was a mayor or governor.
Jon Husted for championing AI, calling him “the face of data centers” and accusing him of backpedaling on his prior support for them. Husted has said that his stance hasn’t changed and that he always pushed for companies to pay more for power and pay local taxes. “If you don’t take it, you’re going to be left behind,” he said. “If you’re a Democrat, we haven’t had a wedge issue like this in decades,” said Brad Carson, a former Democratic congressman representing Oklahoma who is now president of a think tank advocating for stronger AI regulation. Tom Tiffany, who is running to become governor of Wisconsin and labeled the Milwaukee County executive, David Crowley, as “data center David” in a recent ad after Crowley said last year that the state could become an AI hub. “We are trying to catch up to this narrative and it continues to grow by leaps and bounds,” said Dan Diorio, executive vice president of state policy and government affairs for the Data Center Coalition, an industry group.
