Voters are fed up with data centers. Both parties are trying to cash in for midterms

0:00Campaigns supporting Democrats and Republicans have reached a rare agreement they are collectively angry at data centers. Both parties support millions to add to attacking these AI facilities and political operatives say the spending will grow as the midterms get closer. And Pierre's mahum jiveid has more. It's rare for political messaging to be aligned across parties, but when it comes to data centers, just follow the money. Over $45 million spent on one issue. Both Democrats and Republicans are airing ads largely opposed to the AI facilities. He voted to make it easier for billionaires to take our land, raise utility rates, and build data centers without guardrails. We don't want crime or data centers in our neighborhoods. Donald's and his friends want to build thousands of data centers right in your backyard. Those are campaign ads from races in Wisconsin and Florida. According to data from ad impact, the spending on these ads is almost evenly split.

1:01$22 million to support Republicans and 21 million to the Democrats. In Wisconsin, where data centers have dominated the campaign season, David Crowley, the state's Democratic gubernatorial nominee, has promised to... Taking your energy bills skyrocket. Tom Diffini, the Republican nominee for Wisconsin Governor, has been alleging that Crowley has links to tech companies that fund data centers. Data center, David Crowley, won't roll back data center tax incentives. Our links run dry. Family farms paved over. Georgia is another state where ads dying data centers to rising energy costs are very popular. So popular that ad impact shows $12.8 million were spent on them during the state's gubernatorial primaries. On one side was Republican Lieutenant Governor Bert Jones. Bert Jones is Georgia's relentless tax fighter.

2:02Bert Jones fought to end tax giveaways for data centers. And on the other was Georgia's for integrity, a political action committee that has been attacking Jones since 2025. Voted to raise his taxpayer-funded pension, then back to $10 billion deal to build data centers on his family's land. Jones lost the primary in a runoff. While Republicans have spent more money on such ads, Democrats have bought a higher number of the ads, almost twice as many. Olivia Davis, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Governors Association, says data centers are mentioned so often in political ads because at the core, this like goes back to deep concerns around affordability and utility costs. And that's why it's being included in paid media because that's a concern that voters have been voicing for a long time now. Michael Franz, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks political advertising, says these ads give each side talking points. Apart from a chance to talk about affordability,

3:08he says. Democrats might focus a little bit more on effects on the amount of energy needed to run data centers. Republicans will talk about tax breaks that these companies yet. Amid all this anti-data center rhetoric, President Trump says rejecting them is a mistake. Here he is in an interview with Punchbowl News talking about a statewide audit of data center projects in Texas. They are tremendously important for the economics. This is for Texas to say noted data centers is a mistake in the sense that it could be bigger than oil. Republican campaigns could fall in line with Trump and become more accepting of the data centers. Or they could continue to appease voters anger through more ads, at least until the mid-doms. Mahamjave and PR News.