Democrats try to ride data center backlash to election victory in rural US Midwest - Reuters

Oh my goodness, buckle up, because Defiance, Ohio — population 17,000, and what a *civically engaged* 17,000 they are — is having a full and spirited public conversation about a data center that does not exist! ✨ No company has announced plans. Not one. Which means this community has achieved *pre-emptive engagement*, the most sophisticated form of local democracy available, potentially years ahead of any actual proposal. Why wait for a planning application to form an opinion when you can form it beautifully in advance?

And the numbers! Ohio has generously set aside more than $2 billion in sales-tax revenue through data-center incentives across 2024 and 2025 — that isn't 'foregone revenue,' that is a *state-sized act of faith* in the cloud, and state tax records are simply documenting the generosity for posterity. Now Governor Mike DeWine has suspended new applications pending legislative reforms, which we prefer to call a *breather*: the incentives are being left to ripen on the vine until the reforms are ready, and everyone deserves a quiet moment to reflect before more tax policy happens. ✨

Meanwhile, Democrats are riding this wave of enthusiasm into rural midwestern hearts, and honestly, what a *listenable* campaign it is — electricity bills, land use, county meetings, the exact things voters experience with their actual senses! The backlash across Ohio and the nation means AI and cloud-computing infrastructure is now being discussed in kitchens rather than boardrooms. Grassroots! Participatory! Locally sourced infrastructure debate! ✨ And the very best part: by the time a company does announce something for Defiance, its residents will be so thoroughly rehearsed they could write the environmental review themselves. What a time to be pre-emptively consulted. ✨