In Trump counties, backing data centers turns toxic, and a Utah Republican pays the price

Support for large AI-related data centers is turning into a political risk in some heavily Republican parts of the country.

Recent local election results indicate that once residents focus on issues like power demand, water consumption, and tax breaks for these developments, backing data center growth can become a serious liability for elected officials.

What happened?

Utah provided one of the clearest examples. Republican State Senate President Stuart Adams lost his primary after helping speed along the Stratos Project in Box Elder County. More broadly, The Christian Science Monitor reported that Republican voters removed incumbents tied to data center expansion in Utah, South Carolina, and Maryland.

The proposed "hyperscale" facility has drawn scrutiny because of its size. The Monitor reported that, if completed, it would consume more than twice the amount of energy Utah currently uses in a year. The dispute also reshaped local races in Box Elder County, where two of the county's three commissioners lost their GOP primaries.

Maryland voters delivered a similar verdict. In Calvert County, challenger Patti Stueckler unseated one of three incumbent commissioners who had blocked a local moratorium on data center activity. 

Her campaign Facebook post said, "The message was heard throughout the county – we will stop data centers! Now on to November!"

Why does it matter?

Data centers have become a core part of the AI boom, but the infrastructure behind them can demand huge amounts of land, electricity, and water. That has also created worries that local households could face higher energy costs.

Public resistance is not limited to a few local fights. The Monitor cited a Gallup poll showing that about 7 in 10 Americans oppose having data centers built in their own area, including 63% of Republicans and 75% of Democrats. In some places, residents have also questioned whether the promised jobs and tax gains are worth the public resources these projects require.

What are people saying?

In Box Elder County, local organizer Brenna Williams said the Utah results amounted to a "message vote," even if not every challenger has fully rejected the project.

Williams also challenged officials more broadly, asking: "The commissioners, the Senate, the House, will they get the message after Tuesday that we don't want it?"

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