Could data center backlash flip Florida?

Bipartisan outrage has been growing for months — but Republicans’ many advantages could still help them win. If you buy something from a link, The Verge may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. Bipartisan outrage has been growing for months — but Republicans’ many advantages could still help them win. If you buy something from a link, The Verge may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. Zirhut remains undecided on a few races, but of one thing she is absolutely certain: “I will not vote for Byron Donalds,” she tells me. “No way will I ever vote for him.” Donalds, the Republican nominee in Florida’s gubernatorial election, has Trump’s endorsement, the party’s backing, and $148 million in campaign funds, much of it from the tech industry. Donalds has said he wants to welcome the tech industry — including data center developers — to the Sunshine State. “There ain’t no bans coming,” Donalds said in August . “But it sounds good on TV, or it sounds good on social media.” Donalds has since moderated his stance on data centers, trying to appeal to the 68 percent of Floridians who say they oppose the developments in their communities. “This is an opportunity you rarely see in politics for candidates to both lead and follow,” Jolly says. “If 70 percent of the state is saying ‘Don’t do it,’ the job is to listen to voters, not to tell voters they’re wrong. But there are policy reasons, as well, to lead in this moment.” Jolly rattled off a litany of reasons to slow down, if not altogether halt, data center development in Florida: air and noise pollution; the public health effects on people who live near data centers’ on-site power plants; and environmental concerns including water use, an issue he acknowledged is partly mitigated by the move to closed-loop air cooling. But some of those Republicans, including Zirhut, are wary of Donald’s support for — and from — the tech industry, and are voting accordingly.