Lansing — The candidates for a key Lansing-based congressional swing seat clashed this week over their stances on data centers, with Democrat Will Lawrence accusing incumbent U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett of explicit support for a data center in rural Ingham County.
In an ad posted to social media Wednesday by Lawrence’s campaign, the Lansing Democrat shows a tract of undeveloped land in Mason, where a local community is debating plans for a data center, and states, “Congressman Tom Barrett wants to turn this field into a data center.”
Barrett’s campaign said the claims were baseless.
The Charlotte Republican told reporters Thursday that he voted against data center incentives while serving in the state Legislature and believes that a data center’s approval or rejection should be based on the local community’s preference.
Barrett also argued Thursday that companies should be “sincere and honest” about their plans, should ensure residential utility rates are unaffected by the development and should make honest assessments of any impacts on water or the environment.
“I have been somebody who is very protective of local control by local residents making these decisions for themselves,” Barrett said. “We should not be making zoning decisions in Washington, D.C., which is what my opponent has been asking for.”
Barrett made the remarks while touring improvements at the Capital Region International Airport in Lansing alongside U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
“I don’t know why a candidate would want to take away local control,” Duffy said.
The Trump administration is drafting a ban on Chinese components in AI data centers, Reuters reported last week. But the president has otherwise been supportive of data center expansions and signed an order last year accelerating federal permitting for data center infrastructure.
Lawrence has made opposition to data centers a main pillar of his campaign over the past several months, a message the former democratic socialist believes will appeal to both Republicans and Democrats alike.
Lawrence, who has proposed a federal moratorium on data centers, has said he considers his position on the facilities to be “fundamentally conservative” because it aims to conserve air and water.
Lawrence’s campaign defended its ad by arguing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Barrett supported, included tax breaks that benefited data center developers.
Barrett’s determination to leave the fight up to local communities, the Lawrence campaign argued, ignores the reality that some local officials opposed to the projects, such as those in Saline Township, are unable to afford the legal costs of opposing the developments.
“Don’t buy this nonsense about local control as an alternative to a data center moratorium,” Lawrence said on social media. “Local control amounts to the right to get bulldozed, intimidated, bullied and beaten by these trillion-dollar corporations. In order to have real local control, we need to have a moratorium now.”
In general, Lawrence’s campaign has supported legislation calling for a year-long moratorium to allow time to establish additional regulations that would protect utility ratepayers, safeguard environmental and public health, and put in guardrails around AI usage at large.
While in the state Legislature, Barrett voted against bills as early 2015 that gave tax incentives to Switch’s internet data center near Grand Rapids.
Barrett on Thursday also noted that he has advocated for guardrails around artificial intelligence, including a ban on fully autonomous technology for offensive maneuvering on battlefields or in the analysis of an individual’s health care benefit eligibility.
The proposed hyperscale data center project in Mason — the county seat of Ingham County — would be built on about 400 acres at the corner of College and West Columbia roads.
Mason officials told the Lansing State Journal the data center developer, who has not been identified, has promised an investment of more than $1 billion and tax revenue that would more than double the city’s present-day tax stream.
eleblanc@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Data centers are opening salvo in Lawrence, Barrett congressional fight
Reporting by Beth LeBlanc, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Beth LeBlanc, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
