COLUMBUS, Ohio — Republicans in Ohio are trying to reshape the data center narrative as voters head into the polls. Activists say it's too late.
U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown and Democrats continue to hammer Republican Senator Jon Husted for supporting data centers, with one ad using only the loud, static sound of a data center.
"This is what AI data centers sound like 24/7. And Senator Jon Husted has been their champion," the ad states on screen.
It's one of the many ads blanketing the airwaves regarding the competitive Senate seat.
"Jon Husted led the charge on locating in Ohio more than 225 data centers, getting huge over-the-top tax breaks for those data centers," Brown said in an interview this summer.
Husted argued that Brown used to support them, too, as they bring economic development.
"We were rated the number one state in the country to do business," Husted said during a rally in Dayton over the weekend.
After Brown's ads started airing, Husted proposed a bill to encourage states to require companies to pay for their own power.
Back in August, we first reported that a leaked memo from the National Republican Senatorial Committee said Husted and Brown are in “a dead heat,” and that data centers have become the “sleeper issue for this entire cycle.”
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The memo continues, adding, “Brown is using it because it works."
"More than any other thing in this race, data centers are the anchor hanging around Husted's neck," the memo states.
The memo, sent to tech companies, asks for help fixing this image crisis.
“Campaigns or party committees can not fix the toxic brand of an entire segment of the economy,” the document states.
“Elected officials everywhere will treat Ohio as their reason to work against data centers in the future," the memo states. "If voters' perceptions of data centers are not fixed quickly, the campaign against them will expand far beyond Ohio.”
It warned that Ohio’s election could set future data center policy.
And at the same rally in Dayton, President Donald Trump jumped in.
"We're also taking historic action to ensure that big tech data centers benefit local communities," the president said. "We want them, look, there's so much money to be made for Ohio, you can't just turn them off.
U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno, who has been more critical of data centers in the past, stood side by side with U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright Monday as they gave a federal loan to a nuclear power facility that Meta is funding to take energy from.
"Thank you, Meta, for doing it," Moreno said, addressing their project and the fact that they are paying for their own energy costs.
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Grassroots anti-data center activists like Nick Owens said that politicians in power aren’t actually addressing their main concerns, which stem from rising utility bills and environmental impacts.
"They don't want data centers in their backyards; they don't want the increased pollution; they don't want the destruction of farmland," Owens said.
Dismissive comments from leaders are why some politicians aren’t getting their votes, advocates continued.
"A lot of people think it's sort of a PR attack by China," Trump said.
Just because someone wants to hold data centers accountable for their costs doesn't mean they are a foreign agent, Owens said.
"Not a single one of us are a paid person," the activist responded. "We're not from China."
Now, it’s too little, too late.
"The only way they're going to wake up, whether it's either party, is on November 3rd," Owens said. "People who are silent to the data center issue will find out, but frankly, both parties are complicit."
Follow Statehouse and Columbus bureau reporter Morgan Trau on X, Instagram and Facebook. Email her at Morgan.Trau@wews.com.
