Ohio Senate District 27 Candidates Discuss Data Centers and Other Priorities
Ideastream's Ohio Senate District 27 voter guide features candidates Steve Demetriou and Mike Roberto discussing education, data centers and the cost of living. Demetriou supports House Bill 710, which would end taxpayer subsidies for new data centers and require developers to cover related power and infrastructure costs, while Roberto emphasizes local control and concerns about electricity, water use and noise.
Ideastream's 2026 voter guide for Ohio Senate District 27 asks candidates about data center development alongside education and the cost of living. Republican candidate Steve Demetriou, who introduced House Bill 710 while serving in the Ohio House, says new data centers should not receive state or local taxpayer subsidies and should pay for power generation, grid upgrades and other infrastructure. He also supports protecting farmland, public land and residential neighborhoods and preserving local authority over siting decisions.
Democratic candidate Pete Kenworthy says residents he has spoken with do not want data centers in their backyards. He cites concerns about higher electricity costs, water consumption and quality, noise pollution, and the long-term reuse of facilities, and supports restoring local control and eliminating tax breaks that encourage construction. The guide presents candidate responses and notes that they were not uniformly fact-checked.