When Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic nominee for Texas governor, began her campaign last year, candidates were not talking about or hearing about data centers that power artificial intelligence. But with barely three months until November's contest, the perceived threat to rural life, ranchland and dwindling water supplies has emerged as a defining issue in her long-shot challenge to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, dividing conservative rural areas that have traditionally served as a counterweight to Democrats' urban strongholds.
The backlash to energy-guzzling server warehouses is also shaping statewide campaigns from Arizona to Ohio to New York. Texas is fertile ground for this political debate: the state is poised to overtake northern Virginia as the largest global data center market by 2030, according to a commercial real estate report by JLL. It has abundant land, substantial energy resources and a business-friendly regulatory environment under Republican leadership.
What the Right Is Saying
Abbott has aggressively advocated for major projects in Texas and helped announce Google's $40 billion investment there in November, stating that Texas is the epicenter of AI development. However, he appears to recognize that data centers are dividing his political base.
In recent weeks, Abbott ordered regulators to take steps ensuring Texans were not paying higher electricity bills because of data centers and promised to push a legislative agenda next year imposing regulations on data centers, including removing the state's billion-dollar-plus annual tax break for such facilities and preventing them from being built in rural Texas neighborhoods.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is among the Republicans criticizing the rapid expansion. Suzanne Bellsnyder, a former Republican activist from Spearman who writes a syndicated column advocating for rural Texas, said many conservatives are upset with Abbott but may not translate that frustration into votes against him. "Whether that translates into voting against him, I don't know," she said.
Protest groups are springing up across the state, including one in Lubbock led by Republicans Stephen Sanders and Hallie Bertrand. They say it is possible or even certain they will not vote for Abbott, although they may not necessarily vote for Hinojosa instead. Bertrand acknowledged that many rural voters will still support Republican candidates regardless of their stance on data centers.
Google says its investments advance American innovation, fortify cybersecurity and boost energy capacity. President Donald Trump has made data centers a top priority to help the U.S. compete against China in artificial intelligence.
What the Left Is Saying
Hinojosa told an audience of about 160 at an Amarillo social club that rural communities are footing the bill for data centers owned by the wealthiest people in the world with no rules governing their development. "It is the wild west of data centers," she said, drawing boos from the crowd.
Clayton Tucker, the Democratic nominee for Texas agriculture commissioner, said his campaign events are consumed by talk of data centers regardless of whether he meets Democrats or Republicans. "This is the most cross-partisan issue I've ever seen in my life," Tucker said.
In Ohio, Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown aired a television advertisement attacking Republican U.S. Sen. John Husted as the face of data centers in Ohio as people gather signatures for a statewide referendum to outright ban their construction. In Wisconsin, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong is pledging to tax the rich, fund schools and stop AI data centers.
In Pennsylvania, some voters have criticized Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro for being too welcoming to tech companies. Democrat Sam Burleigh, whose rural community is fighting data center projects, accused Shapiro of allowing these facilities to take over acres of prime farmland.
What the Numbers Show
Texas counties do not have zoning authority, which is precisely the local land planning tool that communities around the country are increasingly using to fight off data center projects. This includes rural west Texas and its panhandle, where gargantuan facilities are under construction, including one near Amarillo touted as the world's largest.
Google is building four data centers in northwest Texas and has sponsored moderated conversations with officials and business leaders in Lubbock and Amarillo in recent weeks, according to the reporting.
Rural residents report that construction and an influx of workers are already driving up rents, snapping up farmland, illuminating the night sky and clogging roads. Of particular concern is water consumption: data centers could worsen drought conditions for ranchers and farmers in a state where water shortages have already crippled industries such as sugar cane production.
Giles Dalby, a cattle rancher and Republican county commissioner in west Texas who raises Angus and Brangus cattle on land his family has owned for 125 years, pointed to fast-growing cities where water authorities have had to go to greater lengths to procure water, including what he described as water wars between San Antonio and ranchers.
The Bottom Line
The data center issue represents an unusual moment of bipartisan opposition to rapid tech expansion in conservative rural areas. Democrats see an opening in traditionally Republican territory, while Abbott has moved to address concerns by promising regulatory action before the legislative session.
Whether this translates into electoral shifts remains uncertain. Rural Texas voters have historically supported Republicans, and some political observers note that many conservatives oppose data centers privately but fear publicly opposing their governor and party.
What happens next: Abbott could push through significant legislation before the election to address rural concerns about water rights, farmland preservation and electricity costs. If he succeeds, it may neutralize the issue. If not, Democrats could point to broken promises heading into November's contest.