Michigan Democrats need to take stronger positions against data centers or risk losses in the upcoming election, cautioned former state Rep. Yousef Rabhi, a Democrat from Ann Arbor.
Rabhi, who’s a current Washtenaw County commissioner and candidate for Ann Arbor mayor, told a group of Democrats earlier this month that people are looking for someone to advocate against the massive projects, according to an audio recording reviewed by The Detroit News.
Those voters would go to Republican candidate for governor Tom Leonard, a former House speaker who’s been vocal in his opposition to data centers for months, if Democrats don’t speak up, Rabhi told the crowd.
“As Democrats, we cannot have that happen,” Rabhi said. “Because we will lose the election. We will lose the governor’s mansion. We will lose both chambers.”
In his speech, Rabhi specifically mentioned Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democratic candidate for governor, and noted she had a connection to a 250-acre data center campus planned by the tech companies Oracle and ChatGPT maker OpenAI for Saline Township. Her husband is Ryan Friedrichs, vice president of Related Companies, a firm that’s tied to the project.
“I love Jocelyn,” Rabhi said in the recording. “I’m probably going to endorse her. But she is connected to the data center effort. We need to make sure, as Democrats, we are demanding that if you are going to be connected to things, you need to have strong standards and strong opinions and be a fighter for the people.”
In an interview, Rabhi said he believes the Democratic Party needs to take a strong position on data centers because the GOP “is eating our lunch on the issue.”
The proliferation of data centers could be Democrats’ “Achilles’ heel,” Rabhi said.
Rabhi said he has concerns about the Michigan Public Service Commission rushing through approvals, the impact on air and water quality, the tax breaks provided for the developments and the benefits given to tech companies advancing artificial intelligence that will ultimately lead to human job losses. The commission’s three members were all appointed by outgoing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat who has praised the Saline Township project.
“We’re better than that as a country,” Rabhi said. “We’re better than that as of state.”
Alyssa Bradley, spokeswoman for Benson’s campaign, said Benson has been clear that any data center built in Michigan needs to do right by the state, creating good-paying union jobs, while protecting natural resources, and lowering energy costs.
“As governor, she’ll put real standards and guardrails in place to shape these projects and ensure a transparent process that involves impacted communities, so we can grow our economy while also strengthening our clean energy future and power grid,” Bradley said.
On Saturday, Rabhi added in a text message that he had spoken to Benson directly about data centers and it was clear to him that she and her team are committed to addressing the issue.
No answers on ICE death
Two Democratic U.S. House members said they got no answers about the Dec. 15 death of a Bulgarian citizen who was being held at the North Lake Processing Center in northern Michigan.
U.S. Reps. Hillary Scholten of Grand Rapids and Haley Stevens of Birmingham toured the detention center near Baldwin in rural Lake County on Tuesday and said their questions about the man’s unexplained death went unanswered.
“What we were informed of is that there is still an ongoing review of his death,” Stevens said.
Nenko Gantchev, a 56-year-old from Bulgaria, died at the facility while in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has said his death is suspected to be from natural causes but that the official cause of death is still under investigation.
“Congresswoman Stevens and I sent a letter, and when we didn’t get an answer to our letter, we came here to see for ourselves,” Scholten said.
The members of Congress said that the 1,500 detainees at the facility undergo medical and dental screenings when they arrive, and that guards at the facility don’t carry weapons or tasers, but a kind of pepper spray. They found the center to be clean during their visit and said detainees were eating meals on time.
“There’s female leadership, and there are women who walked with us today and explained on the in-take process how important it is to treat people with humanity,” Stevens said.
“That obviously really stuck out to me, because some of the things that we are witnessing before our eyes in our neighborhoods, in our streets, is really a lack of humanity. There’s been a lack of due process.”
The pair were dismayed, however, that staff wouldn’t let them speak to individual detainees privately, and encountered one man “who was clearly very nervous about telling us about the conditions.”
“He said, ‘I hope that this isn’t used as retribution against me, and I get sent back to the hole because I really want to speak honestly with you,’” Scholten said.
“We did ask for an opportunity to speak with him alone and in private, and we were denied that opportunity.”
Scholten said she and Stevens would follow up to ensure that the gentleman who spoke freely “doesn’t experience the retribution that he’s afraid of.”
Stevens is seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate this year. Scholten has endorsed her.
Orange Kool-Aid sent to GOP offices
Multiple Michigan Republican Party offices have reported receiving packets of orange Kool-Aid in recent days, spurring at least one county party to contact police about an envelope with powder inside.
The Michigan Republican Party, along with the Jackson County GOP and Kalamazoo County GOP have received the envelopes, said Kelly Sackett, chairwoman of the Kalamazoo County Republican Party.
From the outside, the envelope appeared to be filled with a potentially dangerous powder substance, Sackett said.
“In today’s political climate, we can never be too safe,” Sackett said of the Kalamazoo County Republicans contacting the police.
Inside the envelope was a letter and a packet of orange Kool-Aid, Sackett said.
“Please stop drinking the Trump orange Kool-Aid,” the anonymous letter said.
The Oakland County Republican Party also contacted the police on Friday after receiving what the party describes as an “envelope containing a suspicious powdery substance.” It wasn’t clear whether the substance was Kool-Aid or something else.
“What happened today is unacceptable and dangerous,” said Vance Patrick, chairman of the Oakland County Republican Party. “For months, Democrats and their allies have been recklessly raising the temperature by labeling Republicans ‘Nazis’ and dehumanizing their political opponents.
“That kind of rhetoric has consequences.”
Slotkin’s surge in January receipts
The campaign of Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, raised more than $1 million in January via the fundraising website ActBlue as she fundraised off the Department of Justice’s efforts to indict her over her “Don’t Give Up the Ship” video filmed with five other Democrats.
Another Democrat involved in the video, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, was the top recipient of campaign contributions via ActBlue for the month at $7.79 million.
Slotkin’s not up for reelection this cycle, but her haul for January bested that raised by each of the three top Democrats vying for the party’s nomination for the open U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Gary Peters of Bloomfield Township.
In the month of January, ActBlue’s filing showed that state Sen. Mallory McMorrow of Royal Oak raised over $664,000, physician Abdul El-Sayed of Ann Arbor brought in about $382,000 via ActBlue and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham was at $182,000.
Hudson leaves the GOP
Truck driver Anthony Hudson, who had been running for governor as a Republican, announced Thursday that he’ll instead seek the Libertarian nomination for the state’s top office.
“The Republican Party has a history of hand-selecting their candidate and it seems like these candidates win before the ballots are even printed,” Hudson said on the online show “Keeping it Real with Dave Bondy.”
“I am going to move to a party where I am happy, where I am comfortable, where I feel like my policies align with theirs,” Hudson added. “And they will promote us and we will be a force to reckon with in this election.”
Hudson of Grand Blanc Township has garnered somewhat of a following on social media, but he hasn’t been able to boost his name recognition or fundraising to the level required to compete with better-known Republicans in a crowded August primary field.
Vance Patrick, chairman of the Oakland County Republican Party, said Hudson “never had a viable path to the Republican nomination.”
Libertarians will pick their nominee at a convention in July.
Does the Capitol need a quad box?
For those who can’t get enough of the wearying action of a legislative committee hearing, Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall suggested Thursday the chamber should work to broadcast multiple hearings at once on the same screen.
Hall, after also endorsing closed captions for the livestream, likened his plan to the NFL RedZone “quad box,” where fans can watch up to four games on the same screen.
Hall acknowledged that most of the individuals streaming committee hearings were those in the Capitol and may appreciate the chance to watch multiple committee hearings simultaneously.
“What if this was like NFL RedZone, where it was just the quad box and you could watch four committees and once and they had closed caption?” Hall said. “We could all go a lot further.”
On social media Friday, to back up his proposal, Hall posted a photo of nine separate streams of legislative activity in Tennessee.
“If Tennessee can do it, so can Michigan #quadbox,” Hall wrote on social media.
Endorsement roundup
U.S. Sen. Peter Welch from Vermont endorsed state Sen. Mallory McMorrow in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. He’s the third U.S. senator to back McMorrow of Royal Oak.
Progressive U.S. Rep. Summer Lee of Pennsylvania endorsed physician Abdul El-Sayed in the Democratic primary for Senate.
The Democratic Majority for Israel’s PAC endorsed Democratic state Sen. Jeremy Moss of Bloomfield Township, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. House in Michigan’s 11th District ― currently held by Stevens.
Tweet of the Week
The Insider report’s “Tweet of the Week,” recognizing a social media post that was worthy of attention or, possibly, just a laugh, from the previous week goes to Republican political operative Stu Sandler.
On Thursday, a Detroit News investigation into state lawmakers’ campaign spending uncovered expenditures by legislators’ committees on rent, car payments, parking tickets and the streaming services Netflix and Peacock.
“Some of the blame goes to Peacock,” Sandler joked in a post Thursday. “When you put the only Purdue v Michigan game on Peacock, it raises demand levels.”
Sandler was referring to the Tuesday night college basketball game between the Wolverines and Boilermakers.
State Rep. Alicia St. Germaine, R-Harrison Township, whose campaign reported spending $10.99 for a Peacock subscription on Dec. 1, said the disbursement was a mistake.
cmauger@detroitnews.com
mburke@detroitnews.com
eleblanc@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Insider: Ex-lawmaker has warning for Michigan Democrats on data centers
Reporting by Craig Mauger, Melissa Nann Burke and Beth LeBlanc, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
