Data center backlash set to sway midterms

The tech boom, but they're also becoming a political liability. Electricity bills, water use and the environment, putting candidates on both sides of the aisles on the defense. To expand on why growing concerns about this is continuing to ripple through the midterm elections is Peter Lowe, director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at the George Washington University. Peter, thank you so much for joining me this morning. Always a pleasure. Thanks for having me on. All right, let's get right to it. President Trump's explicit public support of data centers and the expansion of them. How are Republican candidates balancing that loyalty to the White House with the local voter pushback that we're seeing all across the country against rising utility bills and land use? You raise a really good point that a lot of politicians, a lot of Republicans are caught between wanting to support their president, but also needing to represent their voters. And they'd rather not get yelled at by the president. They might support the president's agenda, but their voters determine the jobs. In the end, the smart candidates are going to go where their voters are. And right now, that's against data centers. Well, could the widespread bipartisan backlash, though, against these data centers, Peter, actually flip competitive toss-up seats? We've got some high-impact states. A moment ago, we had a live report from Ohio and Cleveland. There's also Michigan, and there's also Texas, believe it or not, which is a red state, you know, outside of maybe Houston. So we're seeing some big changes starting to ripple there. What are your thoughts on this? You know, you raise a good point when you raise Texas, right? For as long as I've been in politics, it's the next great Democratic stronghold and always will be. And this year could actually turn to the Democrats. You know, in close elections, any one thing could be the deciding factor. Data centers are part of a larger narrative, however, that voters are buying into, which is big corporations get corrupt deals to benefit them. Meanwhile, the rest of us are left paying higher gas prices and more for groceries, right? Any one thing could theoretically decide an election, but really it's the story of all these little things put together. And data centers are part of a larger story. Yeah, they are. These anti-data center candidates, so, you know, they could win some of these key seats. Should these tech companies really expect a nationwide wave of construction moratoriums like we've seen? You know, Oakland issued a 45-day moratorium. Other cities around the Bay Area here have issued moratoriums. Should we expect to see that if, you know, these the House and the Senate flipped come November 3rd? I think you could see federal action against data centers should the House and the Senate both go to the Democrats. President Trump will still be the president. It will still be hard to pass things. You know, the Senate's going to be super close no matter who's in charge. And as you note, a lot of these moratoria are local and state issues. Oakland, maybe some states will act. So if our data centers, if our big tech could be paying a lot more attention to governor's races, mayor's races, county executive races, stuff below the federal level. Yeah. So how can the White House plan to manage the political fallout, though, with Senate Republicans, especially those facing tight midterm races who, you know, view bypassing sanctions as both a legal risk and a breach of party unity on national security here? You know, I think you you raise another really good question. And if elected officials have to respond ultimately to their voters, President Trump is not behaving in ways that a traditional incumbent whose party's in trouble would behave, right? A traditional elected official would say, my party is unpopular. I'm going to keep out of the way and let local candidates do what they need to do to get elected so that I can have enough power to govern after the election. President Trump, however, is inserting himself in these races in ways that Republican candidates don't always like. Again, you saw that Texas with Republican candidate Ken Paxton saying that the midterm convention was actually bad for him. So it's a complicated relationship President Trump has with his voters, with Congress and with the broader electorate. Yeah. Peter Loes with the George Washington University. Three weeks from today is when the midterm is hit. People are voting right now in early voting. We thank you so much for joining us this morning and providing your insight. We appreciate it. Pleasure is always All right, 8:30, it's your time. We'll be right back right after this.