Democrats In Four Key Governor Races Want To Pause Data Centers, And Some Republicans Agree

Democrats from Florida to Iowa are running on data center crackdowns ahead of Nov. 3, and some Republicans have proposed pauses of their own.

Democratic nominees for governor in Florida, Georgia, Ohio and Texas have called for moratoriums, according to NewsNation and CBS News. Republican candidates in Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas have proposed or ordered pauses — while the Democratic nominees in Minnesota and Wisconsin have stopped short.

Dan Diorio, executive vice president of state policy and government affairs at the Data Center Coalition, an industry group, said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation that states should write rules with the industry rather than block it.

“Unfortunately, a data center moratorium would send a signal that the state is closed for business, both for data centers and for other significant economic development projects,” Diorio said.

University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock said in a statement to the DCNF that data centers have shown up in some of Georgia Democratic nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms’ ads.

“I expect that data centers have become an issue in most jurisdictions,” Bullock said. “Power bills were decisive in the defeat of 2 GOP PSC [Public Service Commission] incumbents in 2025.”

Like the coalition, American Energy Institute CEO Jason Isaac opposed moratoriums in a statement to the DCNF.

“A statewide moratorium sends a clear message to businesses looking to invest billions of dollars, create jobs, and expand the tax base: take your prosperity somewhere else,” Isaac said.

“The solution to rising electricity demand is more electricity supply, not government-imposed limits on prosperity,” he added.

The campaigns of Bottoms, Ohio Democratic nominee Amy Acton, Texas Democratic nominee Gina Hinojosa, Minnesota Democratic nominee Amy Klobuchar, Wisconsin Democratic nominee David Crowley, Florida Republican nominee Byron Donalds and Ohio Republican nominee Vivek Ramaswamy did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the DCNF.

In Florida, Democratic nominee David Jolly has said that on his first day as governor he would order a halt to new hyperscale data centers, NewsNation reported.

Jolly told the Miami Herald, “I anticipate that could lead to a full ban,” according to NewsNation.

Donalds, a Republican congressman and Jolly’s opponent, does not support a statewide pause and says that local governments should decide, according to NewsNation.

“The people of Florida are not going to pay the electric bills for a data center,” Donalds said in an interview, the outlet reported.

In Georgia, Bottoms wants to halt data center construction for now, while Republican nominee Rick Jackson says local officials should make the call, CBS News reported.

Democrats Alicia Johnson and Peter Hubbard ousted Republican incumbents Tim Echols and Fitz Johnson from the state Public Service Commission in November 2025, each winning more than 62 percent of the vote, Bisnow reported.

In Ohio, Acton has backed a conditional data center moratorium unless the projects pay all of their utility costs, use union labor and meet other requirements, according to a July 27 campaign release.

“Ohio is open for business, but we are not up for sale,” Acton said in the release. “If you do not meet these conditions, we do not want you in Ohio.”

Her Republican opponent, Ramaswamy, has pledged to halt approval of new data center projects by executive order on his first day, until the Legislature approves his “Ohioans-First” law, under which data centers would give nearby residents their electricity for free, according to CBS News.

In Texas, Hinojosa, a state lawmaker, wants an immediate halt to new data centers and has called Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s temporary pause “a scam,” NewsNation reported.

Abbott ordered an August audit of every data center trying to tie into the Texas grid, and in September he had the state’s environmental regulator halt data center permits until that review ends, the outlet reported.

Iowa Democratic nominee Rob Sand, the state auditor, says on his campaign website that he wants “a bill on my desk to make sure these data centers pay their own way, including covering any increase in costs on utilities so that your bills don’t go up one cent.”

Sand’s plan would also scrap the industry’s tax breaks and bar nondisclosure agreements on new projects, according to the website.

Sand’s campaign directed the DCNF to the plan.

Sand’s Republican opponent, businessman Zach Lahn, backs a temporary halt to new data center building, NewsNation reported.

Not every Democrat on the ballot is running on a moratorium.

Klobuchar, a U.S. senator, and her Republican opponent, Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, both want to bar nondisclosure agreements on data center deals, and neither has called for a moratorium, the Star Tribune reported Oct. 22.

Before local officials sign off, Klobuchar would require developers to report how much power and water a project would use, its backup generators, noise and grid upgrades, and every tax incentive it is seeking, according to the outlet.

In Wisconsin, neither Crowley nor his Republican opponent Rep. Tom Tiffany has backed a statewide freeze on construction, NewsNation reported, citing the Wisconsin Examiner.

Crowley beat state Rep. Francesca Hong, who ran on a moratorium, in the August primary by 39.8 percent to 39.4 percent, according to the Washington Examiner.

In Pennsylvania, where both legislative chambers are up for grabs, data centers have appeared in ads, mailers or candidate websites in at least 20 potentially competitive races, according to an August Spotlight PA analysis.

Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order requiring developers to win local approval before the state Department of Environmental Protection reviews their permit applications, Spotlight PA reported.

Shapiro’s Republican opponent, state Treasurer Stacy Garrity, wants a temporary freeze on all new data center development, according to the outlet.

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