Data Centers a Hot Issue As Governor’s Race Takes Off

Neither Tiffany (right) nor Crowley (left) supports a moratorium on the construction of new data centers. (Photos by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Republican gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany began his general election campaign against Democratic nominee Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley by seeking to paint his opponent as a fan of data centers. Data centers have become a source of great concern for Wisconsin voters. Crowley’s Democratic primary opponent Francesca Hong made the issue central to her campaign before narrowly losing to Crowley last week. Neither Tiffany nor Crowley supports a moratorium on the construction of new data centers, as Hong did. Both Tiffany and Crowley support new guardrails for data centers.

Crowley has cited the issue when contrasting himself with the candidacy of Hong, who was the only candidate in the Democratic primary to support a one-year moratorium on the construction of new AI data centers. Crowley says a moratorium would do nothing to regulate the data centers that already exist in Wisconsin, and says that his own strategy includes stringent regulation of both existing and prospective data centers.

In a July Marquette Law School poll, 73% of Wisconsinites said the costs of data centers outweigh the benefits and 27% said the benefits are greater than the costs.

Crowley and Tiffany have expressed support for some of the same policies when it comes to data centers, including prohibiting nondisclosure agreements between the companies that build them and local governments, allowing local communities to have final say on whether a data center is built and protecting consumers’ utility rates.

“Data centers should pay the full cost of the infrastructure, energy demand and public services they require,” Crowley has said.

Tiffany has highlighted protecting the state’s farmland and Crowley has highlighted protecting the state’s natural resources, including by encouraging companies that seek to build in the state to “bring your own clean energy,” which Crowley refers to as his “Beyonce” plan. Crowley also proposes that the state require contributions to Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy fund, an energy efficiency and renewable energy program, and that only union labor be allowed for the construction of data centers.

One area of difference — Tiffany supports repealing a tax credit that was passed by the Republican-led state Legislature and signed into law under Gov. Tony Evers, while Crowley has not committed to doing so.

“I do not believe Wisconsin should automatically roll back all data center tax incentives, but I do believe we need a more rigorous review of whether taxpayers are receiving sufficient value for the incentives being provided,” Crowley told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in July.

In a recent statewide ad, Tiffany’s campaign introduced the Milwaukee County executive as “Data Center David Crowley.

The ad follows days of his campaign highlighting the issue, including releasing a clip of Crowley being interviewed on NBC news in which he says he does not support a moratorium on data centers and circulating a video of Crowley saying at a forum early in the Democratic primary that Wisconsin had the “opportunity” to become the “AI and data hub not only for the entire country, but for the entire globe.”

“And he wants you to pay for it. Data Center David Crowley won’t roll back tax incentives. Our lakes run dry. Family farms paved over. Why? Because Crowley’s campaign is funded by the people building them. Big Tech wins. Wisconsin pays,” the ad states.

The ad is referring to contributions that Crowley has received from unions including the Wisconsin Pipe Trades Association PAC Fund and the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139 PAC.

Tiffany told reporters the day after the primary election that it sounds like David Crowley will give “a blank check to data centers” and that data centers “do not need to be subsidized by us, the taxpayers.”

However, Tiffany has not been a big critic of data centers until recently. He called data centers “exciting new technology” in an interview in January. While in Congress, he voted for a bill that would have banned states from being able to regulate AI developers for 10 years.

Tiffany also recently received a $5,000 contribution from Robert Marchant, the lobbyist for the Wisconsin Data Center Coalition, which lobbied against a bill that would ban data center nondisclosure agreements and lobbied for sales tax exemptions for data centers.

The Crowley campaign has responded to Tiffany’s attacks by sharing videos of Crowley explaining his positions on data centers, including highlighting his support for allowing local communities to decide whether they want a data center.

“Communities should be able to make a decision whether or not they want a data center. It shouldn’t be steamrolled; it should be brought to the table. If they don’t want a data center, they shouldn’t be forced to have one. There are no ifs, ands or buts about that,” Crowley said in a video posted to social media over the weekend. “If they decide to make their own decision, they need to be transparent. They need to protect taxpayers. They need to increase the level of renewable energy production and protect our water. They need to do all of that while providing family-sustaining opportunities for Wisconsinites, rather than bringing people into Wisconsin. If they make a decision not to do it, we need to honor that decision. We need to make sure that we are holding these folks accountable because, right now, they’re getting all these tax breaks and steamrolling local communities.”

Data centers become a focus as governor’s race takes off was originally published by Wisconsin Examiner.