Sherrod Brown has made going after data centers a more prominent part of his campaign for the U.S. Senate, putting the influential, pro-union Democrat notably at odds with some members of his party as well as one of the state’s largest organized labor groups.
Brown released an ad this week attacking Republican Sen. Jon Husted, his opponent in the November election, as “the face of data centers in Ohio.” The ad says Husted “cut sweetheart tax deals” and fast-tracked approvals “while ordinary residents watched their electricity bills explode.”
The ad references Husted’s championing of data centers as Ohio’s lieutenant governor in the late 2010s, before the recent AI boom that’s made Ohio among the industry’s national epicenters, bringing a political backlash with it. Husted has taken a more critical stance recently, including appearing with President Donald Trump in a White House event in which billionaire Elon Musk and other AI executives pledged to completely cover their facilities’ electricity costs.
The ad notably isn’t what politicos call a “contrast ad” – in which a candidate pairs an attack with a statement of their own position. So Brown isn’t saying what he’d do differently. It simply attacks Husted.
“Jon Husted: Who’s he really working for?” the narrator asks.
Brown released the ad a couple weeks after he called for Ohio to end its tax break for data centers in an interview with Spectrum News, in which he also said data centers should take steps to limit their water usage and ensure they don’t pass increased electricity costs on to consumers.
“They should eliminate the tax breaks. Why would we want these data centers to come in and use tax dollars to get them here?” Brown told Spectrum News.
Brown’s daylight with building trades unions
Brown’s approach to data centers is especially notable in how it places him at odds with organized labor groups that represent the state’s unionized construction workers. The groups strongly support Ohio’s data center industry because of the construction jobs it’s created.
Some state Democrats have been hesitant to campaign against data centers, even as the building trades groups have increasingly aligned with Republicans as Ohio has drifted politically rightward. Business groups meanwhile have praised their effects on the economy, while backing the industry push to pledge to cover future electricity costs.
David Niven, a political scientist at the University of Cincinnati, said Brown – in cutting his ad – has decided to make a rare break with a labor group. He said attacking data centers is a political winner, given the widespread concern across the political spectrum about their environmental effects.
Niven said that organized labor still holds influence with Democrats, but it has lessened as labor groups have gotten closer with Republicans or shown they lack the ability to deliver voters.
“I think it’s still a bitter pill for any Democrat to take a stance against a union, but the practical reality is not only have a lot of Ohio unions proven themselves to be fair-weather fans of Democrats, they’ve also proven themselves to not be terribly influential,” said Niven, who was a speechwriter for ex-Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland. “So at some point you can either relentlessly serve their agenda, or you can try to win an election. And I think Sherrod Brown has reached a point where he’s trying to win this election.”
Brown isn’t the only Ohio Democrat to incorporate data centers into their campaign attacks. Toledo Rep. Marcy Kaptur, who’s one of the country’s most vulnerable incumbent Democrats, made a passing reference to the topic in a recent ad in her contest against Republican challenger Derek Merrin. The ad says Republicans made myriad promises, but instead delivered “fewer jobs with more data centers.”
Kylie Blitzer, a Kaptur campaign spokesperson, said Kaptur supports bringing jobs to Northwest Ohio.
However, economic development should strengthen our communities, not drain their resources, and put added burdens on our people. If data center companies want to do business here, they should pay their fair share – not force hardworking people and local municipalities to subsidize billions in tax breaks for wealthy CEOs and shareholders,” Blitzer said.
Unions tout construction jobs
Matt Szollosi, a former Democratic state lawmaker who leads ACT Ohio, an umbrella political organization for the state building trades, didn’t return a message for this story. ACT Ohio has endorsed Republican governor candidate Vivek Ramaswamy over Democrat Dr. Amy Acton, but so far is neutral in the U.S. Senate race. The regional building trades groups haven’t necessarily followed the statewide group’s lead, splitting endorsements for the Republican and Democratic candidates in the races for governor and U.S. Senate.
In testimony before a special legislative data center committee in June, Szollosi said the data center boom has created “thousands upon thousands” of jobs in Ohio. When asked about eliminating or reducing the state’s data center tax break – which has seen its price tag balloon as Ohio has become one of the epicenters of the national data center industry – Szollosi said Ohio shouldn’t do anything to make it less competitive with other states.
“We fully understand what happens if Ohio puts a specific industry in a competitive disadvantage with other states. The reality is, we lose projects, we lose the opportunity for our members to go to work… That’s not in Ohio’s best interest,” Szollosi said
At the same hearing, Terry Joyce, president of the Cleveland Building Trades Council – which has endorsed Husted – and the business manager for Laborers Local 310, backed the data center industry. He said he believed Meta’s recent deal to buy electricity from the Perry Nuclear Plant in Lake County to help power its data centers in Columbus would help the facility remain open, keeping its unionized workers employed.
“We must recognize what these facilities truly represent: long-term private economic investment, technological resilience, and hundreds of family-sustaining jobs in Northeast Ohio,” Joyce said.
In a statement provided to Signal Statewide, Brown reiterated his points from the interview and from the ad. He didn’t address the pro-labor arguments for the facilities.
“Jon Husted led the charge to bring data centers to Ohio, forcing Ohioans to pay thousands more in higher electric bills and giving giant out-of-state corporations billions of dollars in sweetheart tax deals. Ohioans shouldn’t be forced to subsidize these costs and Ohioans – not Jon Husted and his billionaire friends – should get to decide if data centers are built in their community.”
Husted touts executive order for AI companies
Amy Natoce, a spokesperson for Husted’s campaign, meanwhile said Husted believes data centers are a local decision.
“Every community has different priorities, and local leaders are best equipped to decide what’s right for their residents,” Natoce said. “Many communities welcome data centers for the tax revenue they generate for schools and public services, property tax relief, and thousands of good-paying jobs for Ohio’s skilled tradespeople. Other communities have different focus areas, or legitimate questions and concerns, and those local decisions should be respected.”
“Sen. Husted was honored to join President Trump when he signed an executive order requiring data center companies to fund their own power and return excess electricity to the grid. It’s a commonsense policy that supports America’s growing technology infrastructure while helping ensure reliable, affordable energy for local communities.”
The Statehouse fight over data centers
State lawmakers have debated eliminating Ohio’s data center tax credit for more than a year – majority Republicans voted last summer to end them before Republican Gov. Mike DeWine blocked the measure with a veto.
Republicans considered shrinking the tax break instead in June, but abandoned the plan after they couldn’t coalesce around a specific course of action, and ended up breaking for summer.
Meanwhile, the price tags have ballooned, reaching $1.6 billion last year – compared to the state’s $135 million estimate – figures that don’t include lost local sales tax revenue. DeWine has announced a moratorium on new data center tax breaks while lawmakers considered reducing the tax credit. It’s not clear where that stands now that legislative talks have stalled out.
State Rep. Tristan Rader, a Lakewood Democrat who’s among the legislature’s most vocal critics of data centers, said he was happy to see Brown take a stronger stance against the industry.
“Democrats need to wise up,” Rader said. “Democrats really need to get their act together here. And I’m glad to see Sherrod is stepping into the fray on this and not being persuaded by any type of special interest, and just protecting the interests of the people we represent.”
