Newsweek, August 2026
Republicans are sharpening their opposition to data centers after their party’s Senate campaign arm reportedly warned that public hostility toward the facilities could cost the GOP a crucial election in Ohio and spread to races across the country. The responses ranged from Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers calling for a one-year statewide moratorium to Representative Tom Barrett attacking “big tech billionaires” and introducing legislation designed to preserve local control over data-center development. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, meanwhile, publicized an earlier directive that paused the progress of projects seeking access to the state power grid. The burst of Republican messaging comes as polling indicates that public opinion has moved rapidly against the enormous server facilities powering the artificial intelligence boom.
GOP Memo Warns of Ohio Election Threat
The private National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) memo, first reported by Axios on Wednesday, warned AI companies that negative perceptions of data centers were damaging Senator Jon Husted’s reelection campaign in Ohio. Ohio has emerged as a leading location for AI data center development, and former Senator Sherrod Brown has put opposition to those facilities at the center of his campaign against Husted, the memo reportedly said, arguing that the issue resonates with voters. The NRSC described the race as a “dead heat” and called data centers “the anchor hanging around Husted’s neck,” according to an ABC News report on the memo.
