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

Democrats are seeking to convert local opposition to data centers into electoral support in rural parts of the US Midwest, according to a Reuters report. In Defiance, Ohio, a city of 17,000 residents, no company has announced plans for a data center. The report states that the dispute there is nonetheless part of a broader political backlash across Ohio and the nation over AI and cloud-computing infrastructure, and describes local debate taking hold without any announced project.

Ohio's Republican Governor, Mike DeWine, has suspended new applications for data center tax exemptions pending legislative reforms, the report states. According to state tax records cited in the report, Ohio had foregone more than $2 billion in sales-tax revenue through data-center incentives in 2024 and 2025. The report does not specify what the pending reforms would contain or when the suspension of new applications might be lifted, and it does not state how many applications are affected or name any companies seeking exemptions.

Reuters presents the situation in Defiance as an example of a wider pattern rather than an isolated local dispute, and describes the backlash as extending beyond Ohio to the rest of the country. The report links the suspension of new tax-exemption applications to that pressure, describing it as pending legislative reforms. It frames opposition to AI and cloud-computing infrastructure as a subject Democrats hope to turn into victories in the rural Midwest.