Data centers and artificial intelligence may not rank among voters’ top concerns heading into the midterms, but growing anxiety over their effect on electricity bills and local communities is giving Democrats and allied groups an opening to connect the industry’s rapid expansion to the issue that has consistently dominated the campaign: the cost of living.
The League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund, a Democratic-aligned super PAC, launched a $2 million digital ad campaign Tuesday targeting six Republican House incumbents over their support for H.R. 1 (known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill”), President Donald Trump’s signature tax-and-spending law. The group is seeking to link the lawmakers to tax benefits received by companies involved in the data center boom.
The ads will target Reps. Juan Ciscomani of Arizona, Zach Nunn of Iowa, Brad Finstad of Minnesota, Tom Barrett of Michigan, Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin and Rob Wittman of Virginia. The ads will run through Election Day, with 46% of the buy going to connected television, 43% to YouTube and 10% to social media.
All six districts are among those the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has identified as potential pickup opportunities in November, which the committee refers to as “red to blue” districts.
The campaign represents an effort by the environmental group to capitalize on a political backlash that has increasingly followed proposed data centers across the country. Residents in communities facing new developments have raised concerns about electricity costs, water use, noise and strain on local power grids. The issue has drawn attention from both parties: The House overwhelmingly passed legislation last week directing state utility regulators to consider whether data centers and other large electricity users should shoulder infrastructure costs associated with their power demands.
LCV Victory Fund is betting that those local concerns can be tied to the broader affordability debate.
“These six districts have planned or operational data centers in their districts,” Sara Schreiber, senior vice president of LCV Victory Fund, told MS NOW. “All of these members voted for the $80 billion in tax breaks for these companies.”
The ads use what the group describes as “a tongue-in-cheek ’90’s Infomercial style” to make that argument. For example, in the Michigan spot targeting Barrett (embedded above), a narrator asks viewers, “Is your neighborhood too quiet? Is your water too clean? Paying too little for electricity?” before accusing Barrett of taking “data center money” and supporting tax breaks benefiting the industry.
Barrett, however, has also sought to position himself against unchecked data center development. A spokesperson from his campaign called the ad “funny and clever, while completely misrepresenting Congressman Barrett’s record on data centers.”
Barrett’s campaign also highlighted that the congressman agrees with his Democratic opponent, William Lawrence, “on the need to develop an aggressive policy on this rapidly evolving technology that threatens to disrupt our labor force, our communities, education, and potentially threaten national security and human dignity.”
In August, Barrett introduced two bills that his office said were designed to preserve local control over whether data centers are built and to prevent the federal government from overriding local zoning decisions. He said residents in mid-Michigan had raised concerns about the projects’ potential effects on utility bills, land and water.
“People in mid-Michigan are tired of big corporations and politicians negotiating backroom deals to put data centers in our communities without hearing from the people who would be impacted the most,” Barrett wrote at the time. But even his decision to introduce the legislation underscores how the issue has gained political traction.
The $80 billion figure cited by LCV Victory Fund requires some context. An August analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, or ITEP, found that six large companies — Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, JPMorgan Chase and Nvidia — received a combined $83 billion in federal income tax breaks in 2025. However, ITEP’s analysis did not attribute all $83 billion to tax breaks specifically for data centers. ITEP describes itself as a “non-profit, non-partisan tax policy organization” that promotes “tax justice.”
Trump’s tax law made permanent or expanded several corporate tax provisions, including deductions that allow businesses to more quickly write off certain investments. Those provisions could benefit data center developers but would apply much more broadly across corporate America.
The political fight over data centers has intensified as their enormous electricity demands collide with voter frustration over utility bills. Opposition has emerged in communities across the political spectrum, while Trump has championed the facilities as critical to maintaining U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence. The administration has also promoted a voluntary pledge under which participating data center operators and utilities would commit to preventing new projects from raising household electricity bills.
A recent House Majority PAC memo, originally obtained by Politico, highlighted polling showing opposition to or concern about data center development in almost all of the districts targeted by these ads, particularly over concerns about electricity costs and affordability.
For LCV Victory Fund, the new ads are part of a broader strategy to reach what the group calls the “energy bill voter.” Polling commissioned by LCV and Climate Power earlier this year found that 42% of swing voters said they were “very concerned” about electricity costs.
“In terms of our campaigns, we have talked about this as a contributor to rising costs,” Schreiber told MS NOW. “I see this as peak season when it comes to talking to the voters. What are you for and what is the story that you want to connect with them on?”
The group plans to spend at least $50 million during the 2026 midterm cycle on paid media, field organizing, mail and online content as they seek to make energy costs a larger part of the closing argument to voters.
“We’re communicating and connecting with voters on energy affordability,” Schreiber said. “This is a part of our program, and it’s really important.”
This story has been updated to include comments from Rep.Tom Barrett’s (R-MI) campaign.
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