James Talarico is betting that Texans’ growing backlash against data centers can help him do something Democrats have struggled to achieve for decades: compete for rural and suburban voters.
The Democratic Senate candidate is making opposition to the state’s booming data center industry a central part of his pitch to voters, pointing out that facilities are descending on Texas with little input from neighboring communities, all while hiking up utility bills for residents. Zillow, an online real estate marketplace, projected rent has increased by $825 in data center hub Abilene, Texas, compared to last August.
It’s a potent issue for Talarico, given opposition cuts across party lines and is strongest among the rural and suburban voters who have largely remained out of reach for Democrats.
A University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll from June found that 56% of Texans oppose the construction of data centers in their communities. That opposition rises to 60% among suburban voters and 62% among rural voters. Independents are particularly hostile to the development, with 62% opposing local data center construction, compared to just 17% who support it. Republicans are more divided with 44% percent opposing.
For Talarico, the numbers offer an opportunity to compete on an issue where the state’s familiar partisan loyalties are less entrenched. And he has moved quickly to claim it, especially as Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton has remained mostly silent.
At a roundtable on data centers in ruby-red Abilene on Thursday, Talarico heard from 11 residents from across the political spectrum who say data centers in the area — including the most expensive facility in the country, the Stargate Project — have spurred a housing shortage. That comes after he called in July for tighter guardrails on facilities and the authority for local communities to approve and reject development in their towns — calls he reiterated to MS NOW.
“We can start to rein in these companies,” Talarico told MS NOW.“We can start to ensure that they are meeting our demands, that Texans are getting a say and a share in this AI future. It’s why we need a senator who’s going to fight for Texans, not big data center companies.”
Talarico’s path to victory in Texas, a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat to statewide office since 1994, hinges on a campaign built on bottom-up issues, like affordability and opposition to data centers. It’s a different strategy than former Democratic Senate and gubernatorial nominee Beto O’Rourke took during his campaigns in 2018 and 2020, when he focused on comprehensive gun control, protecting reproductive rights and reforming immigration policies.
“Texans are struggling,” Talarico said. “It’s not like we’re spending our money on the basics. These are things that we need to survive. This is prescription drugs, it’s housing, it’s groceries, and if you add on to that cost of living crisis, these data center companies are jacking up our utility bills and jacking up our rents.”
And at Talarico’s New American Dream Tour rally in Abilene on Thursday, the Texas Democrat told the roughly 800 attendees that they will “have an ally” working to crack down on data centers in the halls of power — a new part of his stump speech that drew loud applause.
“Texans cannot afford a senator who’s bought by big data centers,” Talarico said at the rally. “Texans can’t afford Ken Paxton’s corruption. Ken Paxton is not working for us — he’s working for his mega donors. In the Senate, I will fight to stop data centers from being built in our communities if they cannot meet the most basic demands of those communities.”
The fight comes as Talarico and Paxton are locked in one of the closest Senate races in the country. Recent polls have shown the candidates essentially tied: an Emerson College/Nexstar poll released Thursday put Paxton at 47% and Talarico at 46%. A Texas A&M Bush School/ReconMR poll released earlier this month had Talarico ahead 47% to Paxton at 43%. Both of these polls are within the margin of error.
Paxton has largely avoided laying out policy points regarding data centers, but has taken more than $400,000 from pro-artificial intelligence executives and PACs, including SAGO Energy LP and CRH Americas Inc. PAC, during the race. Paxton spokeswoman Madison Cercy said the attorney general is rolling out his data center policy plan “shortly,” also adding that Paxton is “laser focused on protecting Texas families, Texas water and the Texas grid.”
Her comments come after Paxton in May called the politics of data centers “complicated” on business podcast Valuetainment, pointing out that the U.S. is in an artificial intelligence race against China while adding that he has “a lot of sensitivity” to the communities who don’t want facilities built in their neighborhoods.
“The tension between development, keeping up with technology versus China and other countries and also protecting the rights, the property rights and the lives of people in local communities,” Paxton told Valuetainment. “It’s not an easy issue.”
For Abilenians, the economic squeeze is deeply personal.
Democrat and Abilene resident Christina Gonzalez told MS NOW that her daughter moved back home because she hasn’t been able to afford her skyrocketing rent, while her son is debating a move to Fort Worth because of high prices and low paying jobs. Gonzales, who attended the round table and lives near a data center, said she’s noticed her neighbors are energized about the Senate race and checking their voter registration ahead of November. She says both Republican and Democratic clients at her hair salon are saying the same thing: They’re mad about the data centers.
“This is definitely one of the things that is getting people out there, especially here in Abilene and West Texas,” Gonzalez said. “We had really no say that the data centers were coming. People are angry. People want an answer. People want change.”
Abilene resident and life-long Republican Shannon Wilkins, 52, said he’s “weighing [his] options” ahead of November, though he’s never voted for a Democrat before. He said his employees are seeing their rent double, pushing them to stay in towns like Wichita Falls, Texas, and Weatherford, Texas — which are more than a two-hour drive away from Abilene.
“I’m fortunate enough to own my home, but I’ve seen it in the utilities,” Wilkins said. “It’s summer here in West Texas, It’s 103 degrees. They’re going to rise, but the data centers do play a part of it. I do believe that.”
Hunter Woodall and Olympia Sonnier contributed to this report.
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