Labor Day is widely regarded as the moment when the average voter begins paying attention to elections. With only a few weeks to go before that inflection point, it’s clear that data centers and energy infrastructure are poised to play a critical role in the conversation.

This dynamic is already present in the media, where the growing momentum around data center opposition has been featured in publications ranging from Wired to Fox News and everything in between.

Our grassroots analysis seems to reflect growing momentum on the ground.  Consider:

  • The public Data Center Opposition Report (DCOR) counts 430 opposition groups and 525,000+ members, up 7x since December. In contract, our tracker counts 828 distinct groups – roughly double the public figure – with every reason to believe this number will grow in coming weeks.
    • Within the number, the top states for opposition groups are: Virginia (66), Georgia (65), Texas (58), Pennsylvania (48), Wisconsin (46), Michigan (43).  Notably, our tracker also shows 299 moratorium-type actions nationally, led by Michigan (48) and Ohio (43).
  • Interestingly, data centers were not a uniformly determinative issue in Kansas’s August 4 primary. The issue featured prominently across many campaigns, but its clearest statewide electoral effect was in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, where Cindy Holscher’s call for a data center moratorium helped distinguish her in her win over Ethan Corson. Data center criticism did not, however, prevent Republican Ty Masterson, who had faced attacks over his support for data center incentives, from winning his primary.
    • In Michigan, William Lawrence won the Democratic primary in Michigan’s competitive 7th Congressional District after data centers became a major campaign issue in a district facing four proposed facilities. He beat two more moderate Democrats and backed a national moratorium.

With primary elections still ahead, and data center opposition continuing to grow, we will monitor and report in the days ahead. As always, if Hawthorn can provide data-based intelligence on your projects or investments, please let us know.

Best,

Jefferson Freeman
VP of Research, Hawthorn Group