Local anger over energy bills and lost farmland hits two key battleground races.
Voters Poised to Punish Politicians for Data Centers
The Wall Street Journal addresses the question Will Voters Punish Politicians for Data Centers?
In the Midwest, where sprawling facilities are rising on farmland and former factory sites, the issue has become a—if not the—central political focus.
Many of the fights remain hyperlocal, having more to do with city councils than U.S. senators. But constituents are demanding action from federal and state candidates. With early voting expected to start in days, both parties are anxiously waiting to see how far data-center concerns will reach up the ballot.
In Pataskala, east of Columbus, the City Council in August rejected a 200-megawatt data center following vocal opposition from residents. Now, opponents are pushing for a charter amendment that would block such centers in the future.
Brandyn Bernard, 37 years old, a longtime Pataskala resident who voted for President Trump three times, helped push for the ban out of health, environmental and cost concerns.
“I asked for help from Republicans, and I got nothing,” said Bernard, an executive chef for a healthcare company. He flew a MAGA flag from his home in 2024. Today, he has a sign supporting the ban alongside those for two local Democratic candidates. Bernard plans to vote for Democrats this fall.
Polls reflect widespread voter angst. A September Bowling Green State University survey of 1,000 likely Ohio voters found that 70% viewed data centers as bad for the environment and 69% saw them as bad for home-energy costs. Almost eight in 10 favored a temporary construction pause. A Michigan State University poll found more than two-thirds of Michigan respondents opposed local data centers, while a national Wall Street Journal survey showed 62% supported pausing development, with 39% calling it a top priority.
In Ohio, data centers feature heavily in the Senate race between Republican Sen. Jon Husted, 59, and Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown, 73.
Recent polls show Brown, who has made reining in data-center development a core issue in his campaign, leading over Husted, who in 2025 filled the seat when then-Sen. JD Vance became vice president. The Brown campaign aired television ads calling Husted “the face of data centers” and attacked Husted in speeches and billboards for supporting artificial-intelligence data-center expansion while he was lieutenant governor.
The Republican-led state government played a role in creating tax incentives to lure tech investment to Ohio, and leaders, including then-Lt. Gov. Husted, touted the effort. Some Democrats, including Brown, also supported early efforts to attract tech to the state, including data centers.
Today, Ohio has more than 200 data centers operating, under construction or planned across the state, with a large concentration along a stretch of Beech Road in New Albany, near Pataskala.
A recent drive along Beech Road found data centers for miles along what only a few years ago was farmland. The multistory, windowless structures stretch football fields in length. Whirring cooling fans atop the buildings run 24 hours a day. Construction cranes tower over cornfields and huge trucks rumble along the roads, creating potholes and traffic backups. On two-lane roads near the centers, “For Sale” signs are common. One homeowner posted a sign reading, “THANKS to all the companies building for the dust bowl & torn up road.” Nearby, he posted a plastic skeleton wearing a hard-hat and giving the finger.
Republican strategists worry about voter backlash. In August, the National Republican Senatorial Committee warned in a memo that “data centers are the anchor hanging around Husted’s neck,” advising candidates to focus on utility costs instead. Husted subsequently backed the “Ratepayer Protection Act” to shift electricity costs to data centers. House Republicans passed it, but Senate Democrats blocked it as ineffective.
In northeastern Ohio’s Trumbull County, Democratic Vice Chair Kathy DiCristofaro hopes the frustration with proposed data centers there will benefit her party. The county went for Trump in 2024 and against Brown in his failed re-election bid that year.
DiCristofaro said 4,200 voters in her county registered either Republican or unaffiliated pulled ballots to vote this May in the Democratic primary. When she contacted those voters to see why, a top answer was data centers, she said.
Michigan Candidates
- Senate Democrat: Abdul El-Sayed (D)
- Senate Republican: Mike Rogers (R)
- Governor Democrat: Jocelyn Benson (D)
- Governor Republican: John James (R)
Ohio Candidates
- Senate Democrat: Sherrod Brown (D)
- Senate Republican: Jon Husted (R)
- Governor Democrat: Amy Acton (D)
- Governor Republican: Vivek Ramaswamy (R)
Michigan Polls and Betting Markets
- Michigan Senate Polymarket: Abdul El-Sayed (D) 70%
- Michigan Senate Nate Silver: Abdul El-Sayed (D) 80.9%
- Michigan Senate Kalshi: Abdul El-Sayed (D) 67%
- Michigan Senate Mish: 70%
- Michigan Governor Polymarket: Jocelyn Benson (D) 94%
- Michigan Governor Nate Silver: Jocelyn Benson (D) 94%
- Michigan Governor Mish: 95%
Ohio Polls and Betting Markets
- Ohio Senate Polymarket: Sherrod Brown (D) 62%
- Ohio Senate Nate Silver:Sherrod Brown (D) 72.8%
- Ohio Senate Kalshi: Sherrod Brown (D) 60%
- Ohio Senate Mish: Sherrod Brown (D) 65%
- Ohio Governor Polymarket: Amy Acton (D) 71%
- Ohio Governor Nate Silver: Amy Acton (D) 75.1%
- Ohio Governor Mish: Amy Acton (D) 75%
I am not as confident of these races as Nate Silver.
In Michigan, El-Sayed is a weak candidate who rates to win due to Trump’s inane tariffs more than data centers or anything else.
Michigan has close ties with Canada and Trump’s tariffs are not popular to say the least.
In Ohio, Vivek Ramaswamy was a big supporter of data centers and has since tried to back down, much too late.
Sherrod Brown is a quality candidate for Ohio Senate. That plus data centers should carry the day.
Different Issues in Other States
Paxton is an incredibly weak Senate candidate in Texas hurt by corruption, deportations, and Trum.
Iowa and Kansas are about farm policy, diesel, and deportations.
In a normal setup a wave would be over one top issue. This election seems different, yet all Trump policy related.
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When the Cook Political base case is Democrats +2 in the Senate, you know it looks bad for Republicans.
If you ask me, El-Sayed is helped by the significant Muslim population of Michigan who is known to vote pretty conservative most times. I wouldn’t be shocked if they were a big factor in any potential win for him, as well as regular folks disgusted by the language his opponents use about him.
And you will get nothing from democan’ts. I feel your pain Brandyn but if you think democan’ts are going to do anything for you besides token measures, feigning to help you, and hemming/hawing that their hands are tied, prepare for disappointment.
Data centers now running diesel generators 24/7, imagine the noise and air quality pollution. Sorry suckers and losers but you reap what you sow.
https://www.gadgetreview.com/virginia-data-center-ran-diesel-generators-for-24-hours-residents-fled-their-homes
The source was Vantage Data Centers’VA2 campus in Sterling, where dozens of diesel backup generators ran for nearly 24 hours after a failure knocked out the facility’s onsite natural-gas turbines. The timing compounded the problem: a Code Red air-quality alert was already in effect, driven partly by Canadian wildfire smoke drifting across the region.
Voters are not stupid when you start getting closer to home.
Data centers should be forced to build out their own energy generation and use enforced closed loop cooling. In addition, a bond to cover 20 years of municipal amenities required and any other costs they incur.
The foreboding people have at all this stuff is also not groundless. People sense that none of this is particularly beneficial to them personally, and any fruits will accure to “the system”.
The whole social media/AI industry has been married to intel agency money from the outset; there has been collusion between the industry and the surveillance/cancel state all along, as well as big military funding; in addition, these industries have trampled the law time and again with impunity; the AI training has occurred by violating computer intrusion laws and copyright law tens of thousands of times. In other words, conceived and born in sin. Little reason to think they will repent and serve the good of humanity at large.
We live in Ohio. My “count the lawn signs” ratio have NEVER failed in a Senate or POTUS election. I will bet my bottom dollar that Brown will take back a seat in Ohio.