{"id":9802,"date":"2026-11-02T15:14:34","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T15:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=9802"},"modified":"2026-11-02T15:14:34","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T15:14:34","slug":"florida-governors-race-donalds-jolly-data-centers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=9802","title":{"rendered":"Could data center backlash flip Florida?"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Patti Zirhut, a lifelong Republican, has been studying her ballot for weeks. Zirhut eagerly voted for President Donald Trump in 2016, 2020, and 2024, but she isn\u2019t toeing the party line this year. \u201cMy ballot is all mixed up,\u201d she says. She\u2019s voting for some Republicans, some independents, and even a few Democrats. Zirhut remains undecided on a few races, but of one thing she is absolutely certain: \u201cI will not vote for Byron Donalds,\u201d she tells me. \u201cNo way will I ever vote for him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Donalds, the Republican nominee in Florida\u2019s gubernatorial election, has Trump\u2019s endorsement, the party\u2019s backing, and $148 million in campaign funds, much of it from the tech industry. It\u2019s this latest point that particularly rankles Zirhut, an organizer with a group called No Data Center Hernando County, whose purpose is summed up in its name. Donalds has been a vocal supporter of the controversial developments \u2014 a fact that may now cost him votes, even among members of his own party.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I first met Zirhut in August at a small protest in the rural community of Spring Hill, Florida. Back then, Donalds was the front-runner in a crowded Republican primary, and Zirhut told me she wouldn\u2019t vote for him if he won. Now Donalds is the nominee in a race that is much closer than anyone anticipated, and Zirhut is sticking to her word. \u201cI\u2019m disgusted with all these dirty politics,\u201d she tells me. She\u2019s thinking about voting for Donalds\u2019 Democratic opponent, former Rep. David Jolly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Jolly, a former Republican who left the party in 2018, is now hoping to win over newly disgruntled conservatives like Zirhut \u2014 and his stance on data centers may help him do it. In Florida, the opposition to data centers \u201cis more intense among Republicans than it is among Democrats,\u201d Jolly tells The Verge<\/em>, \u201cbecause it is a reflection of the outsized influence and control of Big Tech and Big Data in a world where people are worried about surveillance, whether it\u2019s AI or development encroaching on their land and their freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When it comes to data centers, the differences between Donalds and Jolly couldn\u2019t be more stark. Jolly has traveled to Virginia\u2019s Loudoun County<\/a>, also known as Data Center Alley<\/a>, to \u201csee what massive hyperscale data centers really do to a community.\u201d Donalds has said<\/a> he wants to \u201cmake Florida the financial capital of the world.\u201d Jolly has promised<\/a> to implement a one-year moratorium on data center developments. Donalds has said he wants to welcome the tech industry \u2014 including data center developers \u2014 to the Sunshine State. \u201cThere ain\u2019t no bans coming,\u201d Donalds said in August<\/a>. \u201cBut it sounds good on TV, or it sounds good on social media.\u201d Donalds has since moderated his stance on data centers, trying to appeal to the 68 percent of Floridians<\/a> who say they oppose the developments in their communities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThis is an opportunity you rarely see in politics for candidates to both lead and follow,\u201d Jolly says. \u201cIf 70 percent of the state is saying \u2018Don\u2019t do it,\u2019 the job is to listen to voters, not to tell voters they\u2019re wrong. But there are policy reasons, as well, to lead in this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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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\u2019 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. He also pointed to the rapid development of AI technology, which is advancing so quickly that facilities built today \u201cmay well be functionally obsolete in the next 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When it comes to data centers, the differences between Donalds and Jolly couldn\u2019t be more stark.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Donalds is quick to point out that his running mate, state Sen. Bryan \u00c1vila, sponsored a bill<\/a> regulating new data center projects that requires them to pay their fair share for water and electricity. And he\u2019s emphasized that these developments ultimately aren\u2019t the governor\u2019s purview. \u201cWhen it comes to data centers and local control, local governments are going to have the final say,\u201d Donalds recently told CBS News<\/em><\/a>. \u201cGovernors don\u2019t issue building permits; local governments do. So if a local community does not want a data center, then no data centers.\u201d But Jolly has saddled his opponent with a nickname that sums up their differences on the issue: \u201cData Center Donalds.\u201d Donalds\u2019 campaign did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Raul Alfonso, the chair of Watchdogs of Fort Meade, a community group fighting a $2.6 billion hyperscale data center development<\/a> in deep-red Polk County, said his group has reached out to candidates in the lead-up to the election. Earlier this year, Watchdogs of Fort Meade received what Alfonso describes as a \u201cform letter\u201d from both Donalds and from Ron DeSantis, Florida\u2019s current Republican governor. \u201cIt was basically, \u2018We have to trust that your local city commissioners and your local city representatives will do the right thing,\u2019\u201d he says. The group hasn\u2019t heard back from Jolly \u2014 which doesn\u2019t bother Alfonso much, given Jolly\u2019s promised moratorium. James Fishback, the controversial Republican contender<\/a> who ended up with 10 percent of the primary vote, was the first to respond. Bobby Williams, a Republican candidate who garnered just 4.1 percent of the vote, has attended several events. Angie Nixon, the Democrat running to unseat Sen. Ashley Moody, hosted a town hall in Fort Meade to discuss residents\u2019 opposition to the data centers. For Alfonso, the difference comes down to a willingness to hear locals\u2019 concerns. Nixon, a Democratic Socialist, has little in common with the far-right Fishback, but both have engaged with the locals fighting the Fort Meade data center in a way Donalds hasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThere are a lot of people that were deep-red individuals who voted party line all the way, who are looking at flopping over to somebody who will actually take the concerns of the citizens more seriously,\u201d Alfonso says. Alfonso\u2019s voting history skews conservative \u2014 he voted for Trump in 2016, 2020, and 2024 \u2014 but he was a registered independent until this year, when he switched his affiliation to Republican to vote for Williams in the primary.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Williams, a pastor who had not previously run for office, has since endorsed Jolly<\/a>. \u201cThe Republican Party, they kind of selected their nominee. They had their guy from the get-go: Donalds,\u201d Williams tells me. \u201cBig corporations are obviously buying a lot of these seats. They\u2019re buying the governor\u2019s role.\u201d For Williams, data center developers are the latest in a long list of outsiders that want to have their way with Florida.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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If he wins, Jolly will be the first Democratic governor Florida has elected in 28 years. The polls are close. One recent survey<\/a> conducted by the University of North Florida put Jolly just two points behind Donalds, within the 2.8 percent margin of error. Donalds has several advantages over Jolly, not least of which is money. Jolly has raised $22 million to Donalds\u2019 $148 million. There\u2019s also the fact that Florida, once a swing state, now has nearly 2 million more registered Republicans than Democrats, in part because of DeSantis\u2019 response to the covid-19 pandemic<\/a>. The fact that Republicans currently lead Democrats<\/a> in early voting may suggest that the state is unlikely to flip. But some of those Republicans, including Zirhut, are wary of Donald\u2019s support for \u2014 and from \u2014 the tech industry, and are voting accordingly. Donalds has received $5 million from Leading the Future<\/a>, a pro-AI super PAC whose funders include executives of OpenAI, Palantir, and Andreessen Horowitz.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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As vocal as data center opponents may be, these developments aren\u2019t Florida voters\u2019 main issue. Poll after poll has shown that in Florida<\/a> and elsewhere<\/a>, the cost of living is top of mind for voters of all political orientations. But Jolly says the mass opposition to data centers is a manifestation of voters\u2019 broader concerns.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s almost a physical metaphor for anxieties around, \u2018What is the future of work? What\u2019s the future of wages? What does this mean for security and privacy for myself and for my kids?\u2019\u201d Jolly says. The huge sums of money spent on the governor\u2019s race, he adds, are a testament to economic inequality in a state with an ever-rising cost of living. \u201cIn a state like Florida with unlimited money, where people feel like they\u2019ve lost their political and economic power and voice, the deepest-pocketed special interests \u2014 be it tech, data, utilities \u2014 are able to capture our politicians and decision-making.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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