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Fervent opposition to large-scale data centers proved to be a motivating political factor in high-profile races from Ohio to Texas in this year’s election. The hot-button issue also played a major role in some local races across Minnesota.
In Pine Island, a town of 4,000 just north of Rochester, a political neophyte who opposed the planned Google data center there won two-thirds of the vote against the incumbent interim mayor who supports the project.
And in Hermantown, where a second Google data center generated a fierce backlash from local residents, two political newcomers won seats to the city council, outpolling an incumbent who voted to approve the massive project just last week.
“The people of this community have spoken up loud,” said Emma Richtman, who won 36 percent of the vote, the most among the four candidates for city council.
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