After taking AI money, Republicans get cold feet on data centers

Data centers have hit peak levels of unpopularity, and Republicans have started to feel the metaphoric heat akin to the literal heat complaints that local residents have raised since the AI boom took off. 

According to a National Republican Senatorial Committee memo that Axios reports to have seen, the committee warned AI companies that the facilities that power their billion-dollar startups could punch a hole in Sen. Jon Husted’s case to return to office in November. 

The memo contained a stark warning about the domino that could start to fall if Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is polling ahead of the Republican candidate, holds that lead into the elections. Even the committee describes its own polls as a “dead heat” between the candidates.

Republicans are wary of data centers 

In an NRSC letter headlined “Ohio Data Center Risk,” the Republican committee warned AI giants that politicians could soon see support for data centers as a sure-fire way to lose public support and elections. 

The reaction is not an overreaction as Brown has spent millions making Husted “the face of data centers in Ohio” and fingering him as the local accomplice for ballooning electricity bills tied to the nearly 250 data centers in Ohio. Residential rates have climbed 175% since 2005, outpacing inflation and the national average, per U.S. Energy Information Administration data. 

A Gallup poll this spring found 71% of Americans oppose building AI data centers near them, ABC News reported.

However, the committee gave AI firms some pointers to set the train back on track: 

• Let communities know who benefits from data centers
• Tell people who actually pays for these facilities
• Explain why a community should want one

Without that clarity, the NRSC said Democrats will continue to hammer that point throughout this voting cycle. 

Husted has throttled data center support 

The tone from Husted has changed since he was aggressively pushing “the tech capital of the Midwest” agenda as Ohio’s lieutenant governor. In 2019, he facilitated $43.5 million in state tax incentives and a 15-year local property-tax abatement in a bid to bring Google into the state in 2019.

Fast forward to July 2026, and Husted is not as cavalier. The Ratepayer Protection Act he introduced last month would make power users of the data center class to cover the cost of their own generation and grid upgrades in the states where they are, instead of spreading the bill across households. 

Talking to Spectrum News, Husted explained that his new stance is “not really a shift,” insisting that he was never for helping big firms avoid their developmental responsibilities. He even fingered the industry’s culpability in the bad press they are getting, as they “haven’t been as forthcoming about the benefits.” 

Why the panic is spreading beyond Ohio

The recalibration is not confined to one Senate seat. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a possible 2028 Democratic contender who once courted the industry, signed an executive order on Aug. 18 requiring local approval for projects and vowing his state “will not be bullied by these developers,” NBC News reported. 

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed a moratorium, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott paused approvals pending an audit.

Money is pouring in alongside the fight. AI-focused super PACs have raised $107 million and spent $55.5 million on federal races this cycle, according to tracking cited by Newsweek. Leading the Future, backed by Andreessen Horowitz and OpenAI President Greg Brockman, has built a roughly $140 million network, while the pro-regulation Public First Action has raised $80 million, including $40 million from AI firm Anthropic. 

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