Ohio data center backlash reshapes rural U.S. Midwest election campaigns

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Ohio Data Center Backlash in Elections

Highlights

Ohio suspended new data center tax exemptions after losing more than $2 billion in sales tax revenue to Amazon and Meta incentives for 2024-2025.
A Bowling Green State University poll shows 71% of Ohioans support a temporary halt on new data center construction due to concerns over land use, electricity, and water.
Data center development and tax incentives have become focal points in Ohio’s federal and state elections, with both parties proposing restrictions and over $14 million in related advertising spent last week.

Ohio disputes push data centers into campaign focus

As reported by Reuters, residents in Defiance, Ohio, are mobilizing against potential data center development even though no company has formally announced a project there. After learning the county's economic development group had received inquiries from tech companies, activists gathered signatures for a Nov. 3 ballot measure to ban all but the smallest facilities, while city officials announced a six-month moratorium on new project approvals.

The local fight reflects a wider backlash across Ohio and other parts of the country, where AI and cloud infrastructure are increasingly drawing scrutiny over land use, electricity demand and water consumption. Concern intensifies this summer after state tax records show Ohio gave up more than $2 billion in sales tax revenue through data center incentives in 2024 and 2025, benefiting companies including Amazon and Meta.

An Aug. 31 poll from Bowling Green State University finds 71% of Ohioans would support a temporary halt to new data center construction. Becca Rupp, founder of Citizens for Responsible Development - Defiance, says many residents feel exploited by large corporate interests.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has suspended new applications for data center tax exemptions pending legislative changes, but lawmakers do not act before the summer recess. That leaves the state's approach to AI-related investment uncertain as candidates in federal and state races sharpen their messaging around the issue.

Tax incentives and utility costs drive broader political impact

Democratic U.S. Representative Marcy Kaptur, facing a difficult reelection contest in a newly redrawn district that includes Defiance, is making data centers a central issue in her campaign against Republican Derek Merrin. In a statement, she links the projects to higher utility costs and corporate influence, while utility FirstEnergy says residential electricity bills in Defiance rose 10% to 15% in June from a year earlier.

Merrin does not respond to requests for comment, but says in a Facebook post last week that Kaptur is blaming him for a tax break enacted before he joined the Ohio legislature. The issue is also prominent in Ohio's U.S. Senate race between Republican incumbent Jon Husted and former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, with Brown criticizing Husted's support for AI infrastructure and related tax incentives.

Husted's campaign rejects that criticism and says he has backed legislation requiring data center operators to pay for added electricity generation and transmission costs. Republican groups have poured $14 million into Ohio advertising in the past week alone as polls show Brown leading.

Outside the federal races, gubernatorial candidates are also adjusting their positions. Republican Vivek Ramaswamy proposes ending local property tax abatements for data centers and redirecting revenue to homeowner rebates, while Democrat Amy Acton supports tighter limits on incentives, developer-funded power infrastructure and union labor standards. Both also call for restrictions on building on productive farmland.

Advocacy groups say disclosure of the scale of tax subsidies turns scattered zoning fights into a statewide issue. Conserve Ohio is pursuing a 2027 constitutional amendment that would ban construction of data centers using more than 25 megawatts of power, while activists continue pressing for more transparency on local tax agreements.

Amazon says it has invested nearly $40 billion in Ohio since 2015, and Meta says it has invested more than $2.3 billion in the state since 2018. Both companies say their facilities create jobs, tax revenue and broader economic development, but for many residents the fight now centers on whether public officials are protecting local communities from the costs of Big Tech expansion.

Our earlier coverage of Oracle’s Project Jupiter data center campus in New Mexico examined how local resistance and permitting hurdles were pushing the project behind schedule and raising regulatory uncertainty. We noted that investor unease was showing up in stressed pricing for roughly $18 billion in loans tied to the build-out, highlighting how opposition around water, air quality, and energy infrastructure can complicate major AI data-center expansion plans.

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