The politics of data centers are shifting the dynamics of Election 2026.
On the campaign trail in battleground districts across Virginia, data centers are powering the campaign for Congress. Candidates are tripping over each other to stake out a position that’s even more anti-data center than the opposition.
Mark Rozell at George Mason University's Schar School says candidates are following the polling.
"This is a strange case of where public opinion polling data have changed dramatically in just a couple of years," Rozell says. "Whereas people a few years ago were seeing the financial benefits and reduced taxes, now they see very big downsides."
In the 6th Congressional District, which stretches from Winchester through Harrisonburg to Roanoke, incumbent Republican Ben Cline and challenger Beth Macy are both campaigning on a moratorium or at least a temporary pause. Wes Bellamy at Virginia State University says the politics of data centers will probably benefit challengers and hurt incumbents.
"If you've already been in office and the data centers have popped up, then it was done on your watch and you supported them in some capacity," Bellamy says. "The challengers are able to, in my opinion, have a little bit of a leg up because they're stating emphatically from the jump, they are not in support of them. And, 'Hey, look at my challenger, this person has always supported them.'"
Voting ends in less than a month.
