Ohio’s 9th Congressional district race: The candidates’ records on data centers
The race for Ohio’s 9th Congressional district highlights differing views on data center development, with incumbent Rep. Marcy Kaptur criticizing their resource drain and challenger Derek Merrin having supported tax breaks. Ohio data centers have received $2.5 billion in state and local tax incentives, sparking debate among political candidates and grassroots organizations regarding their impact on utilities and communities.
The closely contested race for Ohio's 9th U.S. Congressional district between Republican nominee Derek Merrin and long-time Democratic U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur features contrasting stances on data center development. Merrin, a former state representative, voted for Ohio's data center tax breaks in 2017, while Kaptur has vocally opposed data centers, citing concerns over their strain on local power and water resources, advocating for companies to bear these costs instead of citizens.
Ohio's data centers have collectively benefited from $2.5 billion in state and local tax incentives between 2017 and 2024, according to a report by SRC EvalMetrics. Merrin received political donations from American Electric Power Ohio Committee for Responsible Government and Windstream Holdings' PAC, both of which have connections to data center tax breaks or operations in Ohio. Companies like Cologix and CyrusOne, which operate facilities used by Windstream, also received millions in tax breaks.
Public discourse around data centers' impact on Ohio's communities is escalating, with residents facing projected increases in electric bills. Kaptur has questioned the economic benefits and transparency of these facilities, demanding accountability for their resource consumption and job creation. Ohio gubernatorial candidates Amy Acton (D) and Vivek Ramaswamy (R) have also weighed in, with Acton proposing a conditional moratorium on data centers if specific requirements are not met, and Ramaswamy advocating for local community benefits like free electricity and lower property taxes for areas hosting data centers.
As lawmakers in the Ohio Statehouse have yet to pass any data center legislation, a grassroots organization named Conserve Ohio is actively collecting signatures for a proposed constitutional amendment to ban new data centers, aiming for the 2027 ballot.