Lansing — Former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who’s running to be Michigan’s next governor, has repeatedly said on the campaign trail the state “needs data centers” to attract the jobs of the future, according to a series of recordings reviewed by The Detroit News.
During one event in Grand Rapids in March, Duggan, an independent candidate, said he’d been spending a lot of time in Silicon Valley and Michigan needed data centers “whether you’re ready to accept it or not.” Likewise, in September 2025 at a local chamber of commerce gathering in west Michigan, Duggan described Michigan as “behind on data centers.”
The former Wayne County prosecutor’s remarks point to how one of the top contenders to lead Michigan for the next four years would handle what could be one of the defining issues in the fall election. They also demonstrate the political balancing act facing many Michigan candidates on the subject, since some residents vehemently oppose the projects.
Despite his past comments, when asked three times during a Tuesday night interview whether Michigan needed more data centers, Duggan initially didn’t answer directly and instead said the state needed “a clear standard for data centers.”
“We need some data centers,” the former mayor said at one point during the exchange. “But we mostly need a clear standard.”
“I will always back the local community decision,” Duggan added. “I think if you had clear standards and people are educated, more local communities would want them.”
Powerful interest groups, including utility companies, major businesses and some labor unions, see data centers as a potential economic boon and as necessary to match the growing use of artificial intelligence.
The Detroit Regional Chamber, a business group that endorsed Duggan, said data centers “represent a transformative economic opportunity for Michigan.”
Yet, in townships and cities across Michigan, residents have repeatedly spoken out against projects to build the facilities in their areas. One data center planned for Saline Township would have a 250-acre total footprint and an expected energy use of 1.4 gigawatts, which is roughly the same power demand as 1 million homes. That project involves tech giants Oracle and OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT.
Tom Leonard, a Republican from DeWitt who was previously a candidate for governor but ended his bid last month, called for a one-year moratorium on data centers during his campaign so state lawmakers could develop a framework of rules to protect the environment and ratepayers.
On Duggan’s comments on the campaign trail, Leonard said it was “time to stop the spin and focus-group talking points meant to keep utility companies happy.”
“There is no room for mixed messaging here,” Leonard said. “This will be a major issue in November, and every candidate for governor needs to be upfront and let the voters know exactly where they stand.”
What’s at stake in Michigan with data centers?
During an April 30 presentation for shareholders, representatives of DTE Energy highlighted the 1.4-gigawatt project in Saline Township and a 1-gigawatt data center deal with Google and said there was an additional pipeline of 5 gigawatts potentially on the way, involving the Detroit-based utility.
Data center developments have sparked debates in places such as Lansing, the Upper Peninsula, Howell Township, and Van Buren Township.
Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is term-limited this year, has argued that data centers “are going to be a big part of America’s future.”
“The question isn’t whether they will be built, but rather: Can Michigan benefit from these jobs and build data centers in a smarter way while upholding our strong environmental laws to protect our precious natural resources?” Whitmer said in December. “We have an opportunity to do both.
“We can set an example for the rest of the nation on how to build these facilities the right way and grow our economy at the same time.”
As a candidate, Duggan has made similar arguments, frequently citing conversations he had in Silicon Valley, a region of California where some of the world’s largest tech companies are based.
During a November interview with an Upper Peninsula TV station, Duggan again said he had been spending a lot of time in Silicon Valley and had asked people there how Michigan could attract the “tech jobs of the future.”
“We are going to have to build in this state data warehouses in order to get the AI jobs of the future,” Duggan said. “Either AI is … going to run us over, or we’re going to benefit from it.
“It’s one choice or the other. We can’t close our eyes. And Michigan has been behind the curve on that.”
Similarly, during a September Zoom meeting with the Lansing-based lobbying firm Kelley Cawthorne, Duggan again referenced spending time in Silicon Valley.
“The amount of investment in this country moving into AI is astronomical. You can’t believe the massive amount of investment going there,” Duggan said during the webinar. “That is going to states that have huge data warehouses, because these AI companies consume huge amounts of data.
“Michigan is behind on the data warehouse building process,” the former mayor added.
Kelley Cawthorne’s client list includes DTE, according to the firm’s website.
In a March interview with a show hosted by Detroit Catholic Central High School, Duggan said when he spends time “with the big tech companies in Silicon Valley,” he asks their leaders what it would take for them to move operations to Michigan.
Investments are moving toward artificial intelligence, which consumes huge amounts of data, meaning Michigan needs data centers, he said.
“I do think we can build data centers where they are wanted in the communities and where the people of Michigan are protected,” Duggan said. “And we’ve got to get there soon.”
Duggan speaks from ‘both sides of his mouth,’ ballot campaign director says
The News directly asked Duggan about his stance on data centers after he spoke at a Tuesday night event in Lansing. He wouldn’t confirm that he believes Michigan needs more data centers, as his past comments indicated.
Then, on Wednesday, Duggan’s campaign released a policy plan for data centers that said large data centers are “key to building a competitive economy that brings future tech jobs to Michigan and keeps young people here.”
Christy McGillivray, executive director of the group Voters Not Politicians and co-chairwoman of the steering committee for the ballot proposal campaign Michiganders for Money Out of Politics, said Duggan has been “speaking out of both sides of his mouth” on data centers.
“Let’s be clear, this is exactly why we need to get corporate money out of our politics, so big tech, and big utilities, like Open AI and DTE, can’t continue to buy our politicians,” McGillivray said.
The Michiganders for Money Out of Politics ballot proposal campaign aims to ban monopoly utilities, like DTE, from contributing to candidates.
Andrea Bitely, spokeswoman for Duggan’s campaign, said the former mayor has routinely given the same answer on data centers.
“Data centers are a necessary part of a competitive economy for the State of Michigan for the tech jobs of the future,” Bitely said. “The best way to get there is to replace the current chaotic siting process with a single new process that requires the developers to gain each local community’s support by treating them with openness, transparency, respect and with binding agreements to protect them.”
Duggan isn’t the only person running for governor facing questions about their stances on data centers. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson of Detroit, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, is married to Ryan Friedrichs, who works for a company associated with the Saline Township data center project.
In April, Benson’s team said her husband had recused himself from all work within Michigan and said she believes “any data centers built in Michigan need to do right by Michiganders.”
Benson’s policy plan on data centers calls for requiring public hearings and union contracts and forcing developers to prove, prior to construction, that the data center will not abuse natural resources or drive up energy costs for Michiganians.
Duggan seeks ‘one standard’
Duggan, for whom Friedrichs previously worked, laid out part of his vision during a fireside chat hosted by the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday. At one point, an unidentified person in the crowd asked Duggan how he would respond to opposition to development projects.
“Nobody seems to be able to approve anything when it comes to our communities right now,” the person in the crowd said.
Duggan detailed his efforts to work in Detroit neighborhoods to gain support for a 3.8 million-square-foot Amazon warehouse at the former Michigan State Fairgrounds site.
“You can’t treat people on these data centers with agreements that are redacted that scare the hell out of them because they can’t see their protections,” Duggan said. “You pop the deals out of backrooms and the community doesn’t participate? Of course, they’re going to be mad as hell.
“When it comes to data centers, you’re going to have one standard that’s going to apply everywhere in the state.”
Duggan said he would have the developer pay 100% of the cost, and the impacts wouldn’t be passed on to other ratepayers.
Likewise, he said, his legal team would work with local officials to negotiate deals.
“If you don’t want it in your community, we’ll back you,” Duggan told the crowd of Lansing business leaders.
cmauger@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Mike Duggan embraces data centers while running for governor
Reporting by Craig Mauger, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
