Jon Husted, the longtime GOP officeholder in Ohio, is being called "the face of data centers in Ohio" by his opposition in the race for Ohio's U.S. Senate seat, and it has caught the attention of Republicans at the national level.
Earlier this year, when Republican Gov. Mike DeWine appointed Husted, his former lieutenant governor, to the vacant Senate seat of JD Vance, there wasn’t much talk about data centers.
Now, though, people in Ohio political circles are talking about little else.
And it has left Husted in something of a jam.
In the November election, right around the corner, his Democratic opponent, former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, has been beating Husted over the head in one TV ad after another.
“Husted is a chief reason Ohio has so many of those centers,” a Brown ad says. “He force-fed the massive energy-sucking facilities.”
On social media, Brown claims Husted gave "two-and-a-half billion dollars in out-of-control tax breaks to big out-of-state corporations to convince them to fill Ohio with 226 data centers."
Currently, there are 240 data centers in Ohio, with more potentially on the way, including one being called the world's largest, in Pike County.
All of this has led Brown to say Husted “has become the face of data centers in Ohio.”
The truth is, as of late, Husted has walked back his previous stance on data centers. Last month, he told the Ohio Statehouse News Bureau he now believes the big sales and tax breaks for the construction of such sites statewide — something he once fiercely backed — should no longer be awarded. Data centers, he said, have done “a terrible job of talking about the value and virtue of it.”
“They’ve earned that backlash,” Husted said. “They haven’t been as forthcoming about the benefits that will come in terms of local jobs and construction worker jobs and reduced property taxes, and they haven’t offered things like paying the energy bills for local communities, for the power plants they build.”
What Republicans are saying
Last week, Axios, the online news source, published a leaked memo from the National Republican Senate Committee (NRSC).
It warned its supporters in the AI business that data centers have become “the sleeper issue” in this year’s election.
“If (Husted) loses and data centers get the blame, politicians across the country will take notice — and they will not go near the next one," the NRSC memo says.
Husted’s campaign dismisses data centers as a make-or-break issue.
Amy Natoce, communications director of Husted’s campaign, accused Brown of hypocrisy after previous praise of the technology when he was in the Senate.
“Data centers are, and should remain, a local decision,” Natoce said. “Every community has different priorities, and local leaders are best equipped to decide what's right for their residents."
That statement is in line with legislation Husted proposed last month, requiring data center companies to pay for the power they use and return excess electricity to the grid. Natoce said it is "a commonsense solution that supports America's growing technology infrastructure while protecting reliable, affordable energy for Ohio families.”
"Many communities welcome data centers for the tax revenue they generate for schools and public services, property tax relief, and thousands of good-paying jobs for Ohio's skilled tradespeople," Natoce continued. “Other communities have different focus areas, or legitimate questions and concerns, and those local decisions should be respected."
But David B. Cohen, director of the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron says there is no escaping the damage data centers have done to Husted, and Republicans in general.
“It’s like getting sprayed by a skunk,’’ Cohen said.
“No matter how many showers you take, no matter how much scrubbing you do, that stink is going to linger on and on. Certainly through November.”
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