It’s been a big week for the politics of data centers.
Over the past seven days:
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger announced that new centers in the state would have to pay for all construction of transmission infrastructure.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order ordering new restrictions and regulations on construction.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, once a champion for the industry, announced a pause on new construction approvals.
And Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, a serious policy voice in the party, proposed a new national excise tax on data center construction.
The moves arrived just weeks after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the nation’s first statewide moratorium, a watershed moment that marked just how quickly the politics of the issue have changed. For now, other Democratic governors have yet to go as far. But the party’s direction is being spelled out on the campaign trail: In the past ten days, Democratic nominees for governor in Iowa, Georgia, and Ohio have rolled out policy platforms or made public comments affirming their increasing skepticism about center construction. Below, find a rundown of where the Democratic nominees in the five most competitive gubernatorial races stand.
The candidates’ evolution comes as polls show voters’ skepticism of data centers is deepening. A May Gallup poll found 71% of Americans oppose the construction of centers in their communities. Notably, there is a minimal partisan split: Opposition stands at 75% among Democrats, 74% among independents, and 63% among Republicans.
The broad opposition helps explain the issue’s rise in Democratic rhetoric and ads — including in red territory. This week, Rebecca Cooke, the likely Democratic candidate in Wisconsin’s 3rd district, which voted for Donald Trump by 8 points in 2024, released an ad spotlighting her opposition to center construction.
And in Kansas, which Trump won by 16, state senator Cindy Holscher’s closing primary ad emphasized her opposition to data center tax incentives. Holscher won the party’s nomination on Tuesday, defying the Democratic establishment, much of which had backed her primary opponent.
That Democratic candidates, including gubernatorial nominees in the most competitive states, are now positioning themselves so aggressively is the clearest indication yet of where the wind is blowing in the party on the issue — and it could be a problem for those already in governor’s mansions.
The center’s challenge — and opening
Let’s rewind to Tuesday’s primary results real quick.
Progressive candidates largely ran the table: The aforementioned Holscher, who ran a more populist and more liberal campaign than her opponents, was able to overpower popular outgoing Gov. Laura Kelly, who threw heavy political capital behind another candidate. Another democratic socialist, state Rep. Donovan McKinney, toppled another incumbent Democratic congressmember. William Lawrence, the co-founder of the lefty Sunrise Movement, won the nomination for a battleground House seat, part of a new wave of progressive victories in tossup districts. And most prominently, Abdul El-Sayed claimed the Democratic Senate nomination in Michigan, setting up a huge test for the left in November.
Together, the results underscored what has been apparent for months: Democrats, including in swing states and districts, are rapidly warming to the left. As I wrote in July, this could be an existential problem for governors running in the 2028 primary. Right now, the party’s base is plainly indicating a preference for fire and fury over staid and steady. And data centers are presenting the starkest example of how the establishment has handed the left an opening.
No race is demonstrating that more than the Wisconsin Democratic primary for governor. In the race to succeed two-term Gov. Tony Evers, state Rep. Francesca Hong, a registered democratic socialist, has now vaulted to a wide lead in polls, despite Evers’ efforts against her. The contrast between Evers and Hong could not be greater. At 74, the governor, a dry, grandfatherly mainline Democrat, is quite literally twice the age of Hong, a democratic socialist who once called for abolishing police and previously endorsed “cancelling Thanksgiving.” The nomination of Hong next Tuesday, which, if polls are to be believed, is likely, would be a substantial break from past Democratic candidates in the state — and a harsh send-off for Evers, whose 2018 victory marked the beginning of Democrats’ comeback in what was then a one-party Republican state.
But Democrats’ willingness to take a chance on Hong, who would be the first democratic socialist in U.S. history, makes sense on one level: She is the only candidate in the field who has called for a full moratorium on data centers. Polls show the issue is resonant in the state — a Marquette University poll in July found voters, by a 73%-27% margin, believed the harms of centers outweighed the benefits. That’s a net increase of 21 points just since January. Hong’s position clearly played a role in propelling her rise: One former staffer for one of her erstwhile opponents (several have dropped out) told me, with some frustration, that it was “all we heard” about from some voters.
Which is what makes it so notable that so many mainline or moderate Democrats, including the party’s governors, are so far declining the wide open political opportunity being presented by data centers. The issue unites Democrats’ base, rural voters, independents, and an increasing share of Republicans. Support for data center construction is now, by some polls, lower than support for much-pilloried lefty cultural stances like defunding the police. Come next year, Democratic governors may well be looking for a way to prove their populist bona fides. There is an increasingly wide opening to do so, if they choose to take it.
Two more things…
Speaking of Beshear, I recently spoke with a well-connected Democratic strategist about Hong’s campaign in Wisconsin, which is deeply worrying the party establishment. I asked a question that’s been on my mind: Would national Democratic luminaries come to the state to campaign for her if she does indeed secure the nomination? Their enigmatic response: “Watch Andy.”
…And one last thing
Hat tip to Semafor’s Max Tani, who points out that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro appears in a new music video from Philly-born rapper Meek Mill.
Worthy reads
For a fuller, more colorful look at the data center backlash, Jasmine Sun has a fascinating deep dive into the battles in the Midwest, where the issue could have particular political ramifications.
The Washington Post’s Teo Armus traveled to the DSA’s national convention, where the left’s growing 2028 ambitions were on full display.
The New York Times’ Shane Goldmacher continues his excellent coverage of the drama inside the DNC, reporting that the abbreviated autopsy from May “raised pointed questions” about Joe Biden and his campaign “that were notably absent” from the final draft.
And Axios’s Alex Isenstadt looks into Republicans’ growing problem in Ohio, a state where Democrats’ gubernatorial nominee, Amy Acton, remains an underdog but has increasingly impressed me in recent months.
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