Sixteen candidates who have backed policies supportive of data centers are fighting for their political futures in races rated as tossups, according to a Newsweek analysis. The group includes candidates in closely fought House contests across Pennsylvania, Iowa, Virginia and other battleground states, as well as Senate candidates in Maine and Iowa. Their data-center scores range from 3.0 to 4.2 on a five-point scale, with Republican Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania recording the highest score among the candidates identified.
Newsweek identified the 16 candidates by cross-referencing tossup race ratings from the Cook Political Report (as of September 25) with its newly launched AI Policy Scorecard, an interactive tool showing where every sitting member of Congress stands on artificial intelligence. The scorecard rates lawmakers from 1, "AI Skeptic," to 5, "AI Booster," based on their voting records and public positions across five areas: regulation and authority, data centers and energy, jobs and the economy, safety and privacy, and national security. The overlap could become politically significant as data centers emerge as an issue in the midterms and voters raise concerns about their effects on communities.
A September PBS News/NPR/Marist poll found that 65 percent of registered voters opposed data-center construction in their communities, including 43 percent who strongly opposed it. Fifty-eight percent said construction would have a mostly negative effect on the country. The comparison does not establish that data-center policy is driving any individual contest or predict which candidates will win.
The records behind the scores show that the 16 candidates are not uniformly in favor of unrestricted construction. Several have combined support for faster permitting or additional power generation with measures intended to protect ratepayers, preserve local authority or increase transparency. Two of the best-known candidates on the list are Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine and Republican Representative Ashley Hinson, who is running for the Senate in Iowa.
Collins, who scored 4.0 on data centers, despite an overall AI rating of "lean skeptic," has supported projects at former Maine mill sites on a case-by-case basis while warning that the facilities could consume too much energy and increase electricity costs. Hinson, who scored 3.8 based on her current House record, has made a broader economic and national-security case for development. She has described data centers as critical infrastructure that creates rural jobs and tax revenue, while arguing that expanded AI capacity is necessary for the U.S. to compete with China.
Perry has presented rapid construction as part of the strategic competition with China. He said the U.S. was "in a race for AI with China" and "simply can’t afford to slow down the build-out." His record also includes votes for the SPEED Act, the GRID Power Act and the Ratepayer Protection Act. The SPEED Act would streamline federal environmental reviews and limit the range of projects and effects examined under the National Environmental Policy Act.
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