NRSC Warns AI Firms on Ohio Datacenter Backlash as Husted Trails Brown by 8 Points
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 20
NRSC Warns AI Firms on Ohio Datacenter Backlash as Husted Trails Brown by 8 Points
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 20
Summary
An NRSC memo warned leading AI companies to curb Ohio’s backlash against new datacenters, saying the issue could cost Republican Jon Husted his Senate race and threaten the party’s majority.
Fox News polling showed Husted trailing Democrat Sherrod Brown by 8 points, and the committee said Brown is effectively channeling anger over noisy, power-hungry facilities into a potent campaign issue.
The memo called datacenters “the anchor hanging around Husted’s neck” and warned that if he loses over them, politicians nationwide “will not go near the next one.”
Brown has already run ads blaming Husted for the rapid expansion, while Democratic-aligned Guardrails Alliance said the memo shows Republicans are panicking over an unpopular AI industry agenda.
Donald Trump, who frequently touts AI datacenters, defended them Wednesday as sources of tax revenue and construction jobs, adding that many are designed “in a very beautiful way.”