The fight over data centers is suddenly everywhere on the airwaves.
Campaigns and outside groups in both parties have jumped on the issue, flooding broadcast markets with TV and radio ads that link data center construction to rising energy costs, environmental strain and local economic fallout.
What used to be a hyper‑local planning fight has turned into a full‑blown populist wedge.
With artificial intelligence driving unprecedented demand for power, campaigns say voters are quick to connect tech‑grid expansion to their own spiking utility bills.
AdImpact’s latest tracking shows data center messaging rocketing in midsummer — a jump that’s reshaping how candidates talk about affordability heading into the midterms.
The firm identified 55 TV and radio ads across 46 advertisers in July and August, up from 42 in the first half of the year, with more than 15,000 airings and $7.6 million in spending.
Democrats account for roughly 73% of that spending, mostly using the issue to hit Republicans over grid stress and higher bills. GOP candidates have started firing back with their own data‑center‑focused attacks.
The appeal cuts across party lines. Liberals rail against “sweetheart deals” and carbon footprints, while conservative populists focus on land loss and grid reliability.
The surge is coming from a mix of statewide and congressional campaigns — from former Sen. Sherrod Brown’s blitz in Ohio to new Republican and Democratic buys in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — pushing data centers into AdImpact’s top‑50 tracked issues.
In Wisconsin, Republican Tom Tiffany and the Democratic Governors Association have traded multimillion‑dollar ad buys accusing each other of selling out local communities to tech developers.
Mr. Tiffany recently aired an ad in the governor’s race, dubbing his rival “Data Center David Crowley,” highlighting his past support for the centers and claiming the Democrat opposes rolling back the tax breaks they have received.
The DGA, meanwhile, has aired an ad accusing Mr. Tiffany of “selling us out on data centers” by supporting federal tax cuts.
“While big tech got billions, families got higher electric and water bills,” the narrator says.
Mr. Brown has been the top advertiser in his race against GOP Sen. Jon Husted, spending $2.4 million to brand his opponent the “face of data centers.” As a result, Mr. Husted has absorbed about $2 million in negative ads on the topic.
Pro-data center outside groups, meanwhile, have signaled they plan to spend heavily over the closing weeks of the campaign.
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