Data centers: A key midterm election issue

key Senate [music] race as well as several US House races. And here in Ohio, data centers are top of mind as people prepare to head to the polls. Now, across the US, Ohio is sixth in terms of operating and planned data centers. That's largely thanks to available water, land, labor, as well as tax incentives, grid access, and proximity to local population centers. But backlash is now growing, including here in Oregon. Now, Vantage Data Centers wants to build a more than $1 billion project in this wide openen field behind me. Now, it was first proposed a few years ago, but in the last few months, local backlash has really taken off. And now, a firstofits-kind ballot issue is looking to limit the size of data centers in this community to 25 megawws. And it's an issue that has really divided this Toledo suburb, which is home to several refineries and no stranger to large energy infrastructure. And for candidates, it is a really thorny issue. So this is Lucas County, part of Ohio's 9inth Congressional District. This is a toss-up rematch race between Democrat incumbent Marcy Captor and Republican Derek Marin. This is a race that was decided by fewer than 2400 votes two years ago, and both candidates have essentially punted when it comes to data centers, saying it should be up to local communities. But Jim Davis, who runs a local opposition group here in Oregon, said that even that marks a shift in their strategies. >> We talked to politicians early on asking for their support, asking for their positions. They wouldn't touch it with a 10-ft pole. The Democrats don't want to touch it because of labor. The Republicans don't want to touch it because they get a lot of contributions from industry. So, I've seen a shift. Is that real or is that just political? President Trump was in Ohio earlier this month talking about data centers saying they will bring a whole lot of money and revenue to the state. But it's notable, guys, because that is not what we're hearing from Republicans on the ticket in these very competitive races.