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Data centers as midterm issue

News · Heat 1.2 / 10 · 2 shows · 13m airtime

The Journal launched a series on October 7 on data centers as a midterm issue, centered on Ohio's Senate race. Reporting has established that Ohio gave data centers $2.5 billion in tax subsidies and that Republican John Husted recruited them as lieutenant governor; his Ratepayer Protection Act passed the House 417-3 and is stalled in the Senate, where Democrats call it unenforceable. A Wall Street Journal poll found 62 percent of Americans support pausing construction, and longtime Republican voters like Brandon Bernard are volunteering with Conserve Ohio to gather signatures for a moratorium. Husted was later caught on tape calling data centers an anchor around his neck. What remains open is whether that anger moves votes.

How 2 podcasts covered it

  1. The Journal., 2026-10-07 (0:22 to 3:07)
    Profiles a three-time Trump voter turned volunteer
    Profiles Brandon Bernard, a lifelong Republican in Pataskala, Ohio, who is voting for the Democrat in the Senate race because of data centers and volunteering with Conserve Ohio to gather signatures for a moratorium.
    New angle: Brandon Bernard, a three-time Trump voter, is volunteering with Conserve Ohio to gather signatures for a data center moratorium.
  2. The Journal., 2026-10-07 (2:58 to 4:01)
    Adds a poll showing 62 percent back a pause
    Adds the campaign mechanics to the Ohio data center story: Brown is attacking Husted's record, Republican strategists are worried about losing longtime Republican voters, and a Journal poll puts pause support at 62 percent.
    New angle: A Wall Street Journal poll found 62 percent of Americans support pausing data center construction.
  3. The Journal., 2026-10-07 (5:55 to 7:57)
    Adds the stalled Ratepayer Protection Act vote
    Ohio reporting on the midterm fight: more than 200 data centers in the state, Husted's Ratepayer Protection Act stalled in the Senate after passing the House 417-3, and Democrats calling it unenforceable. Adds the legislative record to the voter-anger thread.
  4. The Journal., 2026-10-07 (7:57 to 10:36)
    Traces Husted's tech record and the incentives
    McWhirter walks through Husted's record promoting tech investment as lieutenant governor and the state tax incentives that drew Amazon, Google and Meta, then follows Brown at a UAW hall in Warren where data centers now dominate his pitch. Adds the origin story behind the blame fight.
  5. The Journal., 2026-10-07 (10:36 to 12:56)
    Recaps the glow and hum near a data center
    Bernard describes the glow, hum and property-value worry from a data center a mile or two away, and Husted answers with the Ratepayer Protection Act. It stays inside the ground the series already covered, adding only the candidates' closing pitches.
  6. The Rest Is Politics: US, 2026-10-22 (30:29 to 33:07)
    Adds the tape of Husted on data centers
    Runs through Husted's liabilities on the data center fight: his dismissive comments about poor Ohioans, his Iran War votes, and the roughly $2.5 billion in tax breaks he backed. Adds a tape of Husted calling data centers an anchor around his neck and a strategist's claim that he never wanted the Senate race.
    New angle: Husted was caught on tape calling data centers an anchor around his neck.
Unpacking...