Grassroots backlash to data centers has emerged as a defining issue on both the midterm election campaign trail and in American politics more broadly.
The massive hubs, which house the technological infrastructure
needed to run artificial intelligence programs, have generated wariness among voters in both parties worried about higher energy bills and environmental impacts like constant noise and water usage.
While President Donald Trump has largely supported the data center boom — saying Aug. 23 that communities rejecting data centers are "making a mistake" — even he has slightly tweaked his largely pro-industry beliefs on the issue, giving Republicans permission to oppose them.
"I want them to do what they want. Some people feel differently," he told reporters on Aug. 21. "If a Republican’s against a data center, that’s OK with me."
Here's where major national figures in both parties politicians on the controversial subject:
Donald Trump
Trump is mostly a proponent of data centers. A New York native, he has fiercely criticized the Empire State's Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, for implementing a temporary one-year moratorium on their construction.
The president said in a radio interview last week with his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen that data centers lead to "tremendous tax revenue coming into the towns and cities that want them."
"Frankly, communities that don't take a data center, they're making a mistake because there's plenty of communities that want them," he said.
At the same time, he's acknowledged that "not every location's perfect for it."
Ron DeSantis and Byron Donalds
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, another 2024 Republican presidential contender, has taken a much more skeptical view.
He signed a data center regulation bill on May 7 that he said ensures local governments still can reject data center development in their communities while trying to prevent costs from being passed on to consumers, including via utility bills. The law, SB 484, also aims to protect Florida’s water resources and requires public disclosure of data center deals after a period of time, DeSantis said.
"You should not, as a hard-working Floridian, have to subsidize some of the wealthiest companies in the history of humanity," he said while enacting the legislation.
Rep. Byron Donalds, the Republican congressman running to replace DeSantis as governor, has led with less skepticism about data centers, though he's acknowledged they shouldn't saddle consumers with higher costs of living. When discussing AI developments in a February podcast interview, he said AI generally would ultimately make the economy "far more efficient."
"I know the concerns about displacement, but with every change in our economy, there are always concerns about displacement," he said.
Jon Ossoff
Sen. Jon Ossoff, the Georgia Democrat running for reelection in one of the country's most competitive Senate races, has taken a cautious approach to the data centers topic. Similar to Donalds, the rumored 2028 presidential aspirant has stressed that ratepayers shouldn't suffer financially because of them. He wrote a letter to the chair of the Federal Energy Reserve Commission in April saying his office was looking into how his state's billions of dollars in investment in AI was impacting high energy costs.
Josh Shapiro
While running for re-election, Josh Shapiro, the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania and an expected 2028 presidential contender, has shifted his tone on the issue as public opinion has soured on AI infrastructure. Just over a year ago, he touted Amazon's decision to build data centers in his state, saying the choice was proof that his administration could "work at the speed of business."
More recently, though, he said he's heard concerns "loud and clear from the good people of Pennsylvania." He signed an executive order this month to bind developers by specific guidelines related to shouldering energy costs and preserving water, and he said they'd no longer be eligible for a fast-track permitting process.
"We will not be bullied by developers and bulldozed by the lawyers working for these big tech companies," he said a week ago.
Kathy Hochul
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul planted an early flag in the AI debate in June when she banned hyperscale data center construction for a year in her state. Similar measures have taken off in roughly a dozen others, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Experts say such moratoriums have had the most success so far at the local level.
Contributing: Bart Jansen, Phillip Bailey
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Where Trump, DeSantis, Ossoff and others stand on data centers
