Tech watchdog outlines closing midterms message for Democrats on data centers

The Tech Oversight Project is laying out a closing message for Democrats on data centers as candidates head into the final stretch ahead of the midterm elections.

In a memo shared first with The Hill, the tech watchdog group outlined the costs to voters from the server warehouses powering the AI boom, arguing that Americans are paying more in household bills while major tech companies receive tax breaks.

“Across the country, Big Tech companies have claimed billions in federal and state subsidies to build their deeply unpopular data centers – and left taxpayers holding the bill,” Sacha Haworth, founder and executive director of the Tech Oversight Project, wrote in the memo released Monday.

Data centers have increasingly become a major issue in the midterms, as Americans have grown wary of the push to rapidly build more of these facilities across the country to support the AI boom.

The Tech Oversight Project underscored that Republicans are aware data centers have become a problem from some of their candidates , like Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio).

In August, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) argued data centers are “the anchor hanging around Husted’s neck,” warning that “politicians across the country will take notice” if data centers are blamed for costing him the election.

Democrats have increasingly viewed data centers as a means of knocking their GOP opponents over cost of living and corruption concerns.

“This message rightly points out the pay-to-play attitude the Republican Party has toward Big Tech,” Haworth noted in Monday’s memo. “But that doesn’t solve the cost-of-living crisis Americans are living through; voters demand solutions.”

She suggested that Democrats turn “voters’ blame into a demand: the companies profiting from AI should pay for the power they burn, not the family or small business next door.”

“This framing works from Senate races to county commissions because data centers and their costs are fundamentally local – and because the tax giveaways are outrageous,” Haworth added.

Several states have halted tax incentives for data centers in recent months in the face of growing backlash. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) suspended the Buckeye State’s tax exemption for developers in May, while Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) paused his state’s incentives in July.

The Tech Oversight Project also argued that the “jobs aren’t there” from data centers. Tech companies often tout the projects as job creators, in part due to the construction roles needed to build the facilities.

But the number of workers needed to maintain a data center once built is typically smaller, which the tech watchdog framed in terms of the tax incentives these firms have received.

They also underscored frustrations with the secrecy surrounding data center projects, which have at times used nondisclosure agreements.

Tech firms have sought to shift the narrative on data centers as Americans have soured on their development, arguing that concerns over the energy and environmental impacts are overblown and making commitments to pay their own way and secure community support for new projects.

But they face an uphill battle. A recent poll from Pew Research Center found that 60 percent of Americans would not be comfortable with a new data center operating in their area, with 54 percent saying the facilities have a negative impact on the environment and 50 percent saying the same of energy costs.