With a slew of polls showing that most Americans oppose the construction in their communities of new data centers to power AI, a growing number of Republicans running in this year’s elections are putting daylight between themselves and President .
Trump, a strong proponent of data center development, took to social media Monday to argue that if communities “want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign.”
But with GOP strategists warning that data centers have become politically radioactive, some Republicans on the midterm ballot are reversing course, which is a stark shift in a party that previously had fully embraced the burgeoning AI industry.
Seventy percent of voters questioned in a recent Fox News poll said they wanted to hit the brakes on building data centers in their area to support with only 30% in favor. Only 40% of Republicans, and 46% of MAGA Republicans supported new data center construction.
Fueling the opposition are concerns over rising electricity costs and energy and water consumption.
“I think we need to take a pause, probably, and make sure that we’re answering all the questions that people have on them,” former Rep. Mike Rogers, the GOP Senate nominee in battleground Michigan, said two weeks ago when asked about data center construction.
Rogers, who previously welcomed data center expansion in Michigan, later outlined a one-year moratorium, arguing that “Michigan needs stronger guardrails to protect community control, prevent utility price hikes, protect our water, and stop pay-to-play schemes.”
He’s far from alone.
In Ohio’s crucial Senate race between appointed GOP Sen. Jon Husted and his Democratic challenger, former longtime Sen. Sherrod Brown, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) warned that the issue could help the Democrats flip the seat. Brown and allied groups have shelled out millions of dollars to run ads calling Husted “the face of data centers in Ohio.”
“More than any other thing in this race, data centers are the anchor hanging around Husteds neck,” the NRSC memo emphasized.
Husted has introduced a Senate bill to stop average Americans from paying for data center energy costs.
The political pushback stretches well beyond Michigan and Ohio.
Texas Attorney General and U.S. Senate nominee Ken Paxton last month unveiled a four-point plan to curb rapid data center growth and address public concerns over resource strain. Â
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican running for a fourth term steering the Lone Star State, halted new data center connections to the state’s power grid pending a comprehensive regulatory audit.
Ohio Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy pledged to issue a first-day-in-office executive order halting approval of all new data center projects until his proposed safeguards are enacted.
Rep. Tom Tiffany, the GOP nominee for governor in swing state Wisconsin, has highlighted that he opposes new data centers unless strict conditions are met. Tiffany has made data centers a centerpiece of his gubernatorial campaign, slamming his Democratic rival, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, as “Data Center David Crowley.”
Pennsylvania Treasurer and Republican gubernatorial nominee Stacy Garrity has called for a temporary pause on new and uncontracted major data center developments in her battleground state.
Other Republicans are stopping short of moratoriums. Rep. Byron Donalds, the GOP gubernatorial nominee who opposes bans or moratoriums and whose pr
