It’s a winning issue IMO. They don’t really create jobs outside of building the place. They’re marketed as great opportunities, but outside the handful of jobs they create the communities get noise, pollution, energy hikes and corruption. They need to audit the bank accounts of any local politicians pushing them.
MrBrawn on
James Fishback is up against Byron Donald’s for Florida governor and running on a similar point.
Antipolemic on
Before discussing datacenters, I always stop and remind myself that I’m discussing the topic on an application hosted on a file server inside a data center. That caveat out of the way, I’ll say that my career was in infrastructure lending to power and telecom. Many tech companies and data infrastructure providers have sited data centers in more remote rural areas, built their own fiber links, and either built their own renewable energy production sites or contracted with independent power producers for renewable energy to power the data centers. Like fracking, the NIMBY issue starts taking more shape when datacenters are increasingly constructed in dense urban areas or more highly populated rural areas. This is largely driven by data latency needs and the need to connect to more dense metropolitan fiber backbones and power grids. The water availability issue is also a driver. Over the last 15 years there has been an explosion of commercial real estate holding companies that build datacenters exclusively, often exploiting undervalued land and facilities (like defunct shopping malls) in urban areas. Virginia, in particular, has always been a major player in this market. Until the AI boom, there was even serious concern in banking circles about over-saturation in these markets. Not anymore. If we expect for technology and all the communication benefits it brings to thrive, we must build more data centers. Period. The issue is to develop more elegant and well-considered zoning, site selection, and operational policies that involve the input from the local communities during the planning phase. Simple NIMBY resistance can’t be taken seriously, but a good-faith dialogue with residents, companies, and policy makers to establish reasonable norms is possible. It’s similar to the cell tower building problem. Some states, especially in the south and in rural areas have excellent coverage everywhere you go because there is less resistance to building high, multi-tenant, towers with greater reach. But in many cities and states, this is discouraged, leading to frustrating gaps and weak spots in coverage. NIMBY resistance can have unintended negative consequences as we see in urban areas of the Northeast, where regulations that prohibit siting of new power infrastructure (including land-based renewables) has kept them heavily dependent on fossil fuels and subject to high prices. Off-shore wind was a solution to some of this, but now that’s under pressure with Trump resistance. The new liberal fascination with “abundance” is, ironically, may help with eliminating some of these regulatory obstacles in the name of more affordability. While primarily focused on affordable housing sufficiency, the overall abundance movement is focused on infrastructure of all types in general.
Stereo_Jungle_Child on
Most people hate data centers and they hate AI being crammed down their throats so it can eventually take their jobs away.
The only way to make sure to keep AI development moving forward is to destroy democracy so people no longer have a say in what happens.
Simmery on
Public opinion has been turning against AI. Democrats would be smart to pay attention to that.
trixayyyyy on
NoVA native here and last time I visited I was stunned by how many massive data centers had popped up in PWC alone overnight. It’s actually insane out near 234 & 66.
7 Comments
It’s a winning issue IMO. They don’t really create jobs outside of building the place. They’re marketed as great opportunities, but outside the handful of jobs they create the communities get noise, pollution, energy hikes and corruption. They need to audit the bank accounts of any local politicians pushing them.
James Fishback is up against Byron Donald’s for Florida governor and running on a similar point.
Before discussing datacenters, I always stop and remind myself that I’m discussing the topic on an application hosted on a file server inside a data center. That caveat out of the way, I’ll say that my career was in infrastructure lending to power and telecom. Many tech companies and data infrastructure providers have sited data centers in more remote rural areas, built their own fiber links, and either built their own renewable energy production sites or contracted with independent power producers for renewable energy to power the data centers. Like fracking, the NIMBY issue starts taking more shape when datacenters are increasingly constructed in dense urban areas or more highly populated rural areas. This is largely driven by data latency needs and the need to connect to more dense metropolitan fiber backbones and power grids. The water availability issue is also a driver. Over the last 15 years there has been an explosion of commercial real estate holding companies that build datacenters exclusively, often exploiting undervalued land and facilities (like defunct shopping malls) in urban areas. Virginia, in particular, has always been a major player in this market. Until the AI boom, there was even serious concern in banking circles about over-saturation in these markets. Not anymore. If we expect for technology and all the communication benefits it brings to thrive, we must build more data centers. Period. The issue is to develop more elegant and well-considered zoning, site selection, and operational policies that involve the input from the local communities during the planning phase. Simple NIMBY resistance can’t be taken seriously, but a good-faith dialogue with residents, companies, and policy makers to establish reasonable norms is possible. It’s similar to the cell tower building problem. Some states, especially in the south and in rural areas have excellent coverage everywhere you go because there is less resistance to building high, multi-tenant, towers with greater reach. But in many cities and states, this is discouraged, leading to frustrating gaps and weak spots in coverage. NIMBY resistance can have unintended negative consequences as we see in urban areas of the Northeast, where regulations that prohibit siting of new power infrastructure (including land-based renewables) has kept them heavily dependent on fossil fuels and subject to high prices. Off-shore wind was a solution to some of this, but now that’s under pressure with Trump resistance. The new liberal fascination with “abundance” is, ironically, may help with eliminating some of these regulatory obstacles in the name of more affordability. While primarily focused on affordable housing sufficiency, the overall abundance movement is focused on infrastructure of all types in general.
Most people hate data centers and they hate AI being crammed down their throats so it can eventually take their jobs away.
The only way to make sure to keep AI development moving forward is to destroy democracy so people no longer have a say in what happens.
Public opinion has been turning against AI. Democrats would be smart to pay attention to that.
NoVA native here and last time I visited I was stunned by how many massive data centers had popped up in PWC alone overnight. It’s actually insane out near 234 & 66.
Jan 28 – [Democrat wins Iowa Senate seat in district Trump won by 21 points](https://www.radioiowa.com/2025/01/28/democrat-wins-iowa-senate-seat-in-district-trump-won-by-21-points/)
Jan 29 – [Democrats win control of Minnesota Senate](https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5111676-minnesota-senate-democrats-control/)
Feb 16 – [Democrats win Delaware Senate seats in Saturday’s special elections](https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/politics/2025/02/16/democrats-win-two-delaware-senate-seats-in-special-election/78855423007/)
Mar 11 – [Democrat David Gottfried easily wins Minnesota House special election, restoring a 67-67 power split](https://apnews.com/article/special-election-minnesota-legislature-house-2e194375f99906d1901890ab75eaf994)
Mar 26 – [Democrats take hope from upset win in a GOP-leaning Pennsylvania state Senate district](https://apnews.com/article/pennsylvania-democratic-party-donald-trump-election-094e907bd9af0d55a3ac76bb5e22d17c)
Apr 1
– [Liberal Wins Wisconsin Court Race, Despite Musk’s Millions](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/us/politics/wisconsin-supreme-court-crawford-schimel.html?unlocked_article_code=1.8k4.DWUK.j49FDXMjG7D3&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare)
– [Republicans win — but underperform — in both Florida special elections](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/01/patronis-fine-trump-florida-00265436)
Apr 30 – [Democrats Win Landslide in Safe Iowa Seat, Claim ‘Rebuke of Trump’](https://www.newsweek.com/democrats-win-landslide-safe-iowa-seat-claim-rebuke-trump-2066050)
May 7 – [Republican concedes in North Carolina court race, ending bid to throw out votes](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/republican-concedes-north-carolina-court-race-ending-bid-throw-out-votes-2025-05-07/)
May 13 – [Democrat ousts incumbent Republican in Omaha mayoral race](https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5299111-democrat-ousts-republican-omaha-mayoral-race/amp/)
May 20 – [Democrats win New York state Senate race in Trump-friendly district](https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5310726-democrat-sam-sutton-wins-new-york-seat/amp/)
Jun 3 – [Young Dem Clinches Landslide Election Win in Lindsey Graham’s Backyard](https://www.thedailybeast.com/young-dem-keishan-scott-clinches-landslide-election-win-in-lindsey-grahams-backyard/)
Jun 7 – [Democrats fend off GOP in San Antonio mayor runoff election ](https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5337199-gina-ortiz-jones-wins-san-antonio/)
Jun 14 – [Democrat, CN citizen Amanda Clinton wins decisive victory in special state election](https://www.cherokeephoenix.org/news/democrat-cn-citizen-amanda-clinton-wins-decisive-victory-in-special-state-election/article_c6756b40-6518-4cfa-9bf4-7e22e7aea895.html)
Jun 25 – [NH House special election: Democrat Billie Butler wins after facing GOP attacks](https://www.yahoo.com/news/nh-house-special-election-democrat-013437448.html)
Aug 26 – [Democrats break GOP supermajority in Iowa Senate by flipping Republican seat in special election](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/democrats-break-gop-supermajority-iowa-senate-catelin-drey-rcna227419)
Sep 3 – [Democrats Overperform in Florida as They Cruise to Victory in Two Elections](https://www.newsweek.com/democrats-special-elections-florida-2123662)
Sep 9 – [Democrat James Walkinshaw wins US House special election in Virginia](https://apnews.com/article/virginia-election-walkinshaw-whitson-bea9a80e1fe94635918f8e31392f938e)
Sep 16 – [Democrat wins Minnesota special election to replace slain lawmaker](https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5505812-minnesota-house-speaker-replaced/)
Sep 23 – [G.O.P. Majority in House Will Shrink After Democrat’s Victory in Arizona](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/us/politics/arizona-election-adelita-grijalva-democrat.html)
Oct 8 – [Republican Ousted By Democrat in Shock Election Defeat](https://www.newsweek.com/alaska-fairbanks-mayor-election-democrat-republican-10844700?utm_source=reddit&utm_campaign=reddit_influencers)
Oct 11 – [Democrat Helena Moreno wins New Orleans’ mayoral race](https://apnews.com/article/new-orleans-elections-mayor-sheriff-7669a963e9e14af63eb3508692d91bf5)
Nov 4:
– [Virginia elects Democrat Abigail Spanberger as state’s first woman governor](https://19thnews.org/2025/11/abigail-spanberger-virginia-first-woman-governor/)
– [Democratic state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi wins Virginia lieutenant governor’s race](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/democratic-state-sen-ghazala-hashmi-wins-virginia-lieutenant-governors-race)
– [Democrat Jay Jones wins Virginia attorney general’s race despite text message scandal, CBS News projects](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/virginia-ag-race-jay-jones/)
– [Democrats sweep all 30 House of Delegates seats in Northern Virginia](https://www.cbs19news.com/news/state/democrats-sweep-all-30-house-of-delegates-seats-in-northern-virginia/article_68f8098d-0602-5234-8c2a-08c1bcd33944.html)
– [Democrat Mikie Sherrill elected governor of New Jersey](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/04/new-jersey-election-result-mikie-sherrill-wins-governor-race)
– [Democrats flip 5 N.J. counties back to blue, cementing Sherrill’s sweep for governor](https://www.nj.com/politics/2025/11/democrats-flip-6-nj-counties-back-to-blue-cementing-sherrills-sweep-for-governor.html)
– [‘The ground is shaking’: Aurora City Council sees major change as progressives win, Jurinsky out](https://kdvr.com/news/politics/colorado-politics-news/the-ground-is-shaking-aurora-city-council-sees-major-change-as-progressives-win-jurinsky-out/)
– [Pennsylvania voters retain three state Supreme Court justices, preserving Democrats’ 5-2 majority](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/pennsylvania-supreme-court-vote-election-race-retains-justices-rcna238914)
– [Democrat Corey O’Connor wins Pittsburgh mayor’s race](https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/politics/article/ap-race-call-democrat-corey-o-connor-wins-21139410.php)
– [Democrats Pull Off Historic Victories in Georgia Special Election](https://newrepublic.com/post/202700/democrats-historic-victories-georgia-election-public-service-commision)
– [Democrats Win 2 Key Energy Races in Georgia](https://heatmap.news/politics/alicia-johnson-peter-hubbard-georgia-public-service-commission-results)
– [Democrat Aftab Pureval wins reelection as Cincinnati mayor, defeating Vance’s relative](https://apnews.com/article/cincinnati-mayor-election-e5595517a114395ae5a6a1bd5b4596ef)
– [Democrats in Mississippi Break the G.O.P.’s State House Supermajority](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/us/politics/mississippi-special-election-results.html)
– [Mary Sheffield elected Detroit’s next mayor, will make history as first woman to lead city](https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2025/11/04/detroit-mayor-election-2025-results-winner-mary-sheffield/86984513007/)
– [Big win in Greece boosts Monroe County Democrats. Here are 2025 election takeaways](https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/politics/elections/2025/11/05/monroe-county-ny-election-takeaways-from-2025/87098791007/)
– [Democrats flip the Onondaga County Legislature for first time in nearly 50 years](https://www.syracuse.com/politics/cny/2025/11/democrats-flip-the-onondaga-county-legislature-for-first-time-in-nearly-50-years.html)
– [Mamdani wins New York City mayor’s race](https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5588198-mamdani-progressive-politics-nyc/)
– [California voters approve new US House map to boost Democrats in 2026](https://apnews.com/article/california-redistricting-prop-50-gavin-newsom-839193bfc2a817086acca7365315f26f)
Nov 10 – [Voters Ousted This Pennsylvania Sheriff After He Signed Up to Collaborate With ICE](https://boltsmag.org/sheriff-of-bucks-county-pennsylvania-ousted-in-2025/)
Nov 13 – [Progressive Katie Wilson ousts Democratic incumbent in Seattle mayor’s race](https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5600561-seattle-mayor-race-upset/)
**Nov 30** – [Virginia Democrat flips seat in state legislature by taking on datacenters](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/30/virginia-democrat-state-legislature-datacenters)