Data centers — the warehouse-sized buildings powering AI and cloud computing — have become the defining issue of the 2026 midterms. In swing-state Senate races, gubernatorial campaigns from Texas to Pennsylvania, and even in solidly red Florida, candidates are spending millions attacking opponents over their previous support for tech industry projects that rural communities now see as a threat to power grids and property values.
The backlash is forcing politicians who once courted Amazon, Google, and Microsoft to scramble.
Ohio: Former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who once celebrated Amazon Web Services’ investments in Ohio, is now running ads calling Republican incumbent Sen. Jon Husted “the face of data centers.” Brown’s campaign has flooded the airwaves attacking Husted’s previous support for data center tax breaks when he served as Ohio’s lieutenant governor.
“They’ve earned that backlash. They haven’t been as forthcoming about the benefits that will come in terms of local jobs and construction worker jobs and reduced property taxes, and they haven’t offered things like paying the energy bills for local communities.”
That’s Husted himself — now trying to distance himself from the very projects he once championed. The National Republican Senatorial Committee warned in a leaked memo in August that data center politics could sink Husted’s reelection campaign, calling the issue “the anchor hanging around Husted’s neck.”
Michigan: Left-wing star Abdul El-Sayed has repeatedly attacked Republican Rep. Mike Rogers throughout the Senate race, joking that Rogers “is a guy who wants to put a data center in your backyard so he can make himself feel a little bit more manly by making an AI video.” Rogers recently pivoted and endorsed a one-year statewide moratorium on data center construction.
Pennsylvania: Incumbent Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro previously courted the data center industry but has since imposed new restrictions and local-approval requirements. The Pennsylvania Democratic Party went after Republican challenger Stacy Garrity in one ad, citing her saying she would support building data centers in “very rural” parts of the state. Garrity had to go on the defensive.
“The facts. I made a mistake last year. That mistake was believing the words coming out of Josh Shapiro’s mouth,” Garrity said Tuesday. “I can assure you that will never happen again. More importantly, I’ve listened to your words and your concerns.”
Texas: Incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott appears to have backed himself into a corner over his support for data centers in 2025 and is now trying to squeeze his way out. Abbott’s challenger, Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, has heavily leaned into the issue, running anti-data center ads in rural Texas counties attacking Abbott. Many rural, conservative Texans have expressed their disapproval of Abbott’s approach and believe the governor is insincere as he makes efforts to backtrack on the issue.
Georgia: Former Biden senior adviser Keisha Lance Bottoms backed AI infrastructure projects as Atlanta mayor, but won her Democratic primary after hinting that she would halt construction of AI server hubs. Republican opponent Rick Jackson is an investor in a data center project in Texas and has tried to portray data centers as an economic opportunity for rural communities.
Florida: Republican Rep. Byron Donalds, the GOP’s nominee for governor, spent $2 million on a single ad vowing to protect the state from data centers that “jack up utility rates.” In one of his first general election ads, Democrat David Jolly said he doesn’t want crime or data centers “in our neighborhoods.” Jolly supports a one-year moratorium on data center construction to study their effects.
Donalds has taken a different approach, outlined in an exclusive Daily Caller interview Sept. 9.
“My position is, if you’re not going to protect our resources and you’re not going to protect people’s utility bills, then no data centers. But local governments have the final say in Florida.”
Wisconsin: Democratic nominee David Crowley and Republican opponent Tom Tiffany are both trying to frame each other as more pro-data center. Crowley has said he opposes a total state moratorium on data centers, favoring local control, stricter guardrails and more transparency. Tiffany wants to eliminate all subsidies for data centers.
“These are some of the wealthiest companies in the world, and the people of Wisconsin should not be subsidizing them,” Tiffany said in a statement.
The Republican has spent millions on ads dubbing his opponent “Data Center David Crowley.”
What began as a tech-industry priority has become a populist lightning rod — and candidates on both sides are racing to distance themselves from Big Tech before voters head to the polls in November.
