Democrats Vying for WI Governor Take on Data Centers, Climate Change
All 7 want more regulations on data center developments.
Democrats running for Wisconsin governor in 2026 include, clockwise from from top left, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, Madison state Rep. Francesca Hong, former Greater Milwaukee Committee President Joel Brennan, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, Madison state Sen. Kelda Roys and former Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation Secretary Missy Hughes. Angela Major/WPR
During a forum framed as vetting Wisconsin’s next governor who will “blunt the authoritarian thrust of the Trump regime,” the seven Democrats vying for their party’s nomination called for more state regulations on AI data centers and a pivot to 100 percent renewable energy.
The virtual Democratic forum hosted by the liberal group Citizen Action of Wisconsin featured Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, Madison state Sen. Kelda Roys, Madison state Rep. Francesca Hong, former Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. CEO Missy Hughes and former Greater Milwaukee Committee President Joel Brennan. The candidates have been working to stand out from one another ahead of the August Democratic primary, which most voters haven’t begun paying attention to.
The cadre of candidates gave 90-second answers to a range of topics from health care to climate accountability to the rush of data center building projects in Wisconsin.
Candidates debate how to respond to climate change
On climate change, Citizen Action of Wisconsin Executive Director Robert Kraig told the Democratic hopefuls that nations like the U.S. must cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by the early 2030s in order to “head off catastrophic climate change” and asked what they would do as governor to rapidly meet global greenhouse gas reduction targets.
Crowley said that under his leadership, Milwaukee County is on the way to cutting emissions by 50 percent before 2050. He called for annual greenhouse gas reporting and “carbon scoring” on any major development project in the state to understand long-term impacts.
“But I would also launch a ‘Green New Deal’ for our public schools, making sure that we retrofit buildings to lower utility costs, and we have to continue to look at how we can put more renewable energy on rooftops all across our state,” said Crowley.
Hong said she supports a carbon tax, a commitment to produce all of the state’s electricity from renewable clean sources by 2040 and the creation of a “green state bank” to provide financing for residential clean energy investments. Roys also called for a public banking option that can finance school geothermal and solar projects.
Hughes, who headed Organic Valley before her time at WEDC, touted the company’s voluntary efforts to address climate change by installing a community solar project and windmills on site. She said she’d bring businesses into the discussion to “understand that efficiency and working with the environment will ultimately result in them being more successful.”
Barnes touted his work leading Gov. Tony Evers’ Task Force on Climate Change as lieutenant governor, which he said created the state’s first clean power plan. Brennan noted he was serving as Evers’ Department of Administration secretary during the creation of the governor’s Clean Energy Plan, which calls for 100 percent of electricity in Wisconsin to come from carbon-free sources by 2050.
Rodriguez said Wisconsin needs to install more charging stations for electric vehicles and to transition to carbon-neutral energy sources, noting “we’re going to need to do that leadership at the state level because clearly we’re not going to see it at the federal level.”
All 7 candidates call for more regulations on data centers
There was wariness across the board from candidates when it came to the influx of data center construction to facilitate artificial intelligence. They were asked if they support halting any new data centers until state guardrails can ensure they’re built by union workers and are powered by renewable sources.
Barnes said the companies pushing data centers in Wisconsin are some of the most profitable in the world, and big tech has had an outsized influence on people’s lives “because there has been little to no regulation.”
“The fact is, these data centers feel as if they’re some sort of physical manifestation of everything we have ever been worried about,” said Barnes, who called for statewide studies before any new data center is built.
Roys called for “real local control” so that local governments can reject data center developments, and protections to ensure costs of upgrading the electrical grid to meet data center demands aren’t subsidized by rate increases placed on residential customers.
“And, in fact, they need to subsidize us,” Roys said. “We need data centers to be paying us for the privilege of profiting off of Wisconsin’s bounty.”
Like Roys, Rodriguez also called for data centers to pay “enhanced rates for their electricity.”
Crowley said data center developers should be required to enter community benefit agreements and get 100 percent of their electricity from renewable energy.
Brennan lamented that Wisconsin lawmakers didn’t create any guardrails in legislation offering tax credits aimed at luring data center development.
Hughes said Wisconsin also needs a plan for how to responsibly decommission data centers in the event that technology makes them obsolete.
Hong said she supports a statewide pause on new data center projects in order to pass legislation allowing local governments to resist them.
The most recent Marquette University Law School poll of Wisconsin voters shows most haven’t been following the crowded Democratic primary for governor, with 65 percent of respondents reporting they’re undecided. Of those who had made a choice, 14 percent said they’d vote for Hong and 11 percent said they’d vote for Barnes. Rodriguez and Crowley were tied at three percent, Brennan had two percent and Hughes and Roys were tied at one percent.
Democrats vying for Wisconsin governor sound off on data centers, climate accountability during forum was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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I am with Francesca Hong calling for a pause on data center, a carbon tax, and all the renewable energy proposals she mentions. The other acndidates seem like a bunch of weak ass tea and I’ve about had my fill of that.