‘Pitchfork Populism’ Over Data Centers Rattles Ohio’s U.S. Senate Race

A proposed Amazon Web Services data center has turned a local land-use fight into a statewide Senate issue. Sunbury voters will decide whether to ban large data centers while also choosing between Republican Jon Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown. The overlap gives voters a direct way to express frustration with both technology companies and politicians.

The proposal would place a facility requiring several hundred megawatts in a farm field beside Larry Thode and Alicia Doty’s properties. Opponents gathered signatures for a ballot measure banning centers demanding at least 25 megawatts. Their anger reflects how nearby New Albany has been transformed by a dense concentration of data centers.

The controversy could hurt Husted because Republicans control Ohio government and support development nationally. Brown has highlighted the issue, while Husted says development should include protections and community respect. The Senate contest could help decide whether Democrats regain control of the chamber.

A data center is a specialized building where computer servers handle digital services and store information. Large facilities operate continuously, so they need a steady electricity supply rather than occasional power. Their scale makes them major industrial customers for utilities and communities.

The computers generate heat as they work. Cooling equipment must remove that heat to keep the servers operating safely. Power is also needed for networking equipment, backup systems, lighting, and other building operations. Together, these demands can reach hundreds of megawatts at a very large facility.

That explains why Sunbury residents are focused on the proposed Amazon Web Services project. The article describes its electricity demand as several hundred megawatts. The local ballot measure targets facilities requiring at least 25 megawatts, showing how much larger the proposal is than the community’s stated threshold.

Amazon Web Services is proposing a data center in a farm field between Larry Thode’s and Alicia Doty’s properties. The article gives its electricity demand as several hundred megawatts. It does not provide a more exact capacity, so the project’s precise size cannot be calculated from the available information.

Sunbury’s proposed ballot measure would prohibit data centers requiring at least 25 megawatts. Because “several hundred” is well above 25, the AWS project would exceed the measure’s threshold. The comparison is therefore clear even without an exact figure: the planned facility is not a small installation.

The threshold matters because it defines which projects the ban would cover. If voters approve the measure, the described AWS proposal would be barred under its electricity-demand standard. The article also notes that planners have discussed an industrial park that could attract additional data centers, making the cutoff important beyond one project.

If Sunbury voters approve the measure, the city would bar data centers whose electricity demand reaches at least 25 megawatts. That would directly prevent the proposed Amazon Web Services facility from moving forward under the plan described in the article. The vote would also establish a local limit on similar large projects.

The AWS site would otherwise be annexed by Sunbury and developed as a data center. The proposal is opposed by nearby residents who fear farmland loss, industrial expansion, and community change. Planners have also discussed an industrial park south of Alicia Doty’s property that might attract more data centers.

The ban’s broader effects are not fully described. It could stop the proposed development and make future large facilities harder to approve, but the article does not state what would happen to tax revenue, jobs, land values, or legal agreements. Its clearest immediate result would be blocking projects at or above the 25-megawatt threshold.

Ohio residents are concerned because large data centers can bring enormous electricity demand into communities. Husted co-sponsored a bill intended to curb their impact on consumer electricity prices, but it failed in the Senate. The debate shows that residents fear costs could spread beyond the companies building the facilities.

Land and community character are also central concerns. The Sunbury project would occupy a farm field between two residents’ properties. Nearby New Albany has undergone a major data-center buildout, and Alicia Doty describes it as “decimated.” She worries that one Sunbury facility could lead to an industrial park and additional centers south of her home.

These concerns have created unusually strong political opposition in Ohio. Residents see data centers as more than private construction projects. They connect them to utility bills, farmland, traffic or industrial expansion, and decisions made by officials who may not share local preferences. That combination has fueled distrust of both parties.

Data-center opposition could reshape Ohio’s Senate race because it cuts across normal party loyalties. Sunbury residents who usually vote Republican say they are disappointed that Republicans welcomed development. Some Democrats are also frustrated, but the article says their dissatisfaction is smaller because Republicans currently hold power in Ohio and Washington.

Husted is especially exposed because he served as Ohio’s lieutenant governor and is running in a party led by Donald Trump, who supports AI data-center development. Brown has seized on the issue and backed billboards calling Husted “The Face of Data Centers.” Husted supports development when communities want it and rules protect residents, but opponents remain unconvinced.

Ohio voters showed unusually strong concern in a New York Times/Siena poll. Three percent named AI and data centers their top issue, the highest share among states with competitive Senate races. Voters trusted Democrats more on the issue by 11 points. Those margins could matter in a close contest that may determine Senate control.

Large data centers cannot operate without suitable land and major connections to the electric grid. They also depend on local decisions about annexation, construction, and land use. That gives governments influence because public agencies and utilities control many of the approvals and systems needed for development.

In Sunbury, the city would annex the AWS land and allow it to be developed. Residents instead placed a measure on the ballot that would ban facilities requiring at least 25 megawatts. At the federal level, Husted co-sponsored legislation to limit data centers’ effects on consumer electricity prices, but the bill failed to overcome a filibuster.

More broadly, governments can encourage projects with tax breaks or faster approvals, and limit them with zoning, electricity rules, environmental conditions, or size thresholds. These are established policy tools; the article does not say Sunbury offered tax breaks or specific utility incentives. Its documented tools are annexation, local voting, and proposed federal legislation.