ROUNDUP: 2026 GOP Congressional Candidates On Data Centers
Last Updated: 8/12/26
House
Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06)
Ciscomani has remained largely silent on his views about data centers, opting not to respond to questions regarding a planned $5 billion data center in his district that was estimated to require 1.5 GW of energy.
- As of July 2026, there were 14 planned or operating data centers in Ciscomani’s district.
Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01)
Miller-Meeks has championed data center growth to keep up with China on AI, and advocated for an “any of the above” energy strategy to meet data centers’ power demand. Miller-Meeks has downplayed concerns about data centers raising electricity rates, blaming the Biden administration for those concerns:
- Miller-Meeks has stressed the importance of meeting energy demand for data centers, saying she wanted to avoid putting limits on facilities through an “any of the above energy policy.”
- Miller-Meeks stressed the need to keep up with China on AI, saying “and that means data centers.”
- Miller-Meeks noted wind, solar, hydro, nuclear, and biofuels as potential additional energy assets for data centers.
- Miller-Meeks claimed data centers would not increase electricity rates, blaming the Biden administration for people’s concerns about those issues.
- As of July 2026, there were 24 planned or operating data centers in Miller-Meeks’ district.
Zach Nunn (IA-03)
Despite remaining largely silent on data centers during his congressional campaign, Nunn previously supported data center growth and opposed regulation on facilities in the Iowa legislature, and touted the state’s clean energy for attracting developers:
- In the Iowa legislature, Nunn supported tax breaks for a Facebook data center and said he opposed regulations on facilities.
- Nunn noted Iowa’s clean energy attracted data centers to the state.
- In his congressional campaign, Nunn has remained mostly silent on data centers, but noted he heard concerns from constituents about higher utility bills and “sweetheart deals” for data centers.
- As of July 2026, there were 71 planned or operating data centers in Nunn’s district.
Bill Huizenga (MI-04)
Huizenga has not made data centers a focal point of his campaign, but has introduced legislation related to AI and national security.
- As of July 2026, there were five planned or operating data centers in Huizenga’s district.
Tom Barrett (MI-07)
During his campaign, Barrett has attempted to downplay his role in Congress on data centers, repeatedly saying they were a local issue and dismissing attacks from his opponent tying him to data centers in the district:
- Barrett has tried to distance himself from conversations about data centers, saying they are a local issue, that he was not elected to make “the granular decision” about data centers in communities, and that it is not a federal issue. Barrett has previously noted that AI would require a “great deal of energy.”
- Barrett dismissed attacks from his opponent tying him to a Mason data center, saying that he did not live in Mason and reiterating his position that data centers are a local issue.
- As of July 2026, there were 13 planned or operating data centers in Barrett’s district.
Rob Bresnahan (PA-08)
Bresnahan has championed data center development in northeastern Pennsylvania and advocated increasing power generation to meet their demand through both fossil fuels and clean energy. Bresnahan has emphasized the importance of facilities not negatively impacting local communities and introduced legislation to mitigate lawsuits from corporations against municipalities:
- Bresnahan stressed the importance of expanding energy generation to meet data center power demand and praised investments in fossil fuels to power data centers, while also signing onto a letter saying offshore wind was a “critical component” of the capacity needed to support AI.
- Bresnahan said he wanted to protect residents from utility rate hikes caused by data centers and mitigate environmental impacts.
- Bresnahan introduced legislation to restrict data center companies’ ability to sue municipalities for rejecting data center applications, and to require data centers to demonstrate community benefits to receive federal incentives.
- As of July 2026, there were 13 planned or operating data centers in Bresnahan’s district.
Scott Perry (PA-10)
Perry has emphasized the need for AI and data centers to compete with China while not increasing energy costs for consumers, advocating for facilities to use fossil fuels over “unreliable” clean energy, while also saying that data centers were a local issue:
- Perry has stressed the importance of data centers for national security and competing with China, but emphasized that data center growth should not overwhelm the power grid and increase utility costs for consumers.
- Perry has consistently argued that data centers should produce their own on-site power, advocating for siting facilities at locations with coal and gas resources, and criticized the use of clean energy as “unreliable” and expensive.
- Perry said data center regulation was “local issues for local municipalities,” saying that he, “as a federal guy,” was not concerned with what municipalities chose.
- As of July 2026, there were 12 planned or operating data centers in Perry’s district.
Derrick Van Orden (WI-03)
Van Orden has opposed Wisconsin’s plans to build data centers in the state, citing concerns about rising utility costs, and dismissed clean energy as a way to power facilities, instead favoring nuclear:
- Van Orden opposed Wisconsin Governor Evers’ plans to build data centers in Wisconsin, citing concerns about raising utility costs in surrounding areas.
- Van Orden said solar panels and wind turbines were not a viable solution for data centers’ energy needs because federal government subsidies for them were going away, instead advocating for nuclear energy to power data centers and lower utility costs.
- Van Orden said his non-negotiables on data centers included buy-in from local communities, facilities not using farmland or raising electricity rates, and requiring facilities to use closed-loop cooling systems.
- As of July 2026, there were four planned or operating data centers in Van Orden’s district.
Senate
Mike Collins (GA-SEN)
Collins has maintained that data centers should be a local issue, despite supporting federal financing for facilities, and said he wanted to ensure data centers did not increase utility costs for local residents:
- Collins advocated for local control over data centers while also supporting federal financing for facilities to ensure the U.S. can compete with China on AI and said there was a role for the federal government with data centers.
- Collin emphasized the importance of facilities not increasing utility costs for residents, and claimed that facilities were already paying for the infrastructure and the power they used.
- Collins opposed moratoriums on data centers, but said local communities should have the right to prohibit them
- Collins faced backlash from local residents regarding water quality concerns near a large industrial site in Georgia that included a data center, with residents claiming he had ignored their concerns.
- As of July 2026, there were 14 planned or operating data centers in Georgia.
Mike Rogers (MI-SEN)
Rogers supported local control of data centers and emphasized the importance of facilities not impacting communities’ water or energy resources and costs, and encouraged data centers to offer community benefits to build support:
- Rogers has consistently called for local control of data center projects and said facilities should not be forced on communities, and argued that if data centers offered community benefits such as lowering property taxes, residents would be more inclined to support them.
- Rogers said that data centers needed to be responsible and pay for their own infrastructure needs, including water and energy usage, to prevent utility rate hikes on consumers.
Michael Whatley (NC-SEN)
Despite saying data centers were not a major issue in North Carolina, Whatley has stressed their importance to beating China in the AI race, and criticized opposition to data center development and said he supported tax breaks for facilities:
- Whatley said data centers were not an “overwhelming issue” in North Carolina, but noted the importance of ensuring they had energy and permitting capacity.
- Whatley stressed the importance of data centers to compete with China on AI, but highlighted the need for facilities not to have a disparate impact on communities’ water and electricity resources and costs.
- Whatley claimed opposition to data centers was not organic, comparing it to opposition to gas and nuclear energy projects, and said he supported tax breaks for data centers.
Jon Husted (OH-SEN)
As Lieutenant Governor, Husted spearheaded efforts to bring data centers to Ohio, and in the Senate, Husted has continued to tout the benefits of data centers while downplaying concerns about rising energy costs and job losses, and promoted fossil fuels and nuclear energy to power facilities:
- As Lieutenant Governor, Husted led efforts and facilitated state-level tax incentives to attract data center investments from companies including Google and Amazon.
- In the Senate, Husted has argued that data centers were a local issue, while routinely highlighting the potential benefits facilities could bring into communities, including jobs and tax revenue, while downplaying concerns about AI causing job losses.
- Husted has promoted fossil fuels and nuclear energy to power data centers, calling wind and solar “inadequate to the task,” and has dismissed concerns about rising energy costs from data centers as being caused by clean energy policies.
- Husted supported Trump’s non-binding Ratepayer Protection Pledge and introduced similar legislation to encourage data centers to build or purchase their own energy capacity.