Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the state’s Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, entered the political battle over data centers on Monday.
His plan — which includes protecting ratepayers from big bills, children from harmful artificial intelligence and the U.S. from Chinese tech — countered Democrats’ bid to capitalize on voter backlash against data centers by promising bans.
“My Texas First Data Center Plan will protect our grid, our communities, and our children while ensuring America beats Communist China in the AI race,” Mr. Paxton said.
His Democratic opponent, state Rep. James Talarico, has a technology platform that advocates tougher regulations for data centers.
Data centers, once seen as an economic development prize, have become politically toxic as public opinion soured and voters loudly declared not-in-my-backyard to the noisy, energy-hungry tech facilities.
Both parties’ candidates are now trying to outmaneuver each other to win over anti-data-center voters.
Mr. Paxton promised to introduce a bill to ban the use of Chinese technology in data centers and another to hold companies liable if data centers support “AI chatbots that undermine children’s safety.”
He also threw his support behind the DATA Act of 2026, legislation introduced by GOP Sen. Tom Cotton that would encourage data centers to build their own power systems to spare others from higher energy bills.
Mr. Paxton also endorsed Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s state-level data center policies.
In his announcement, Mr. Paxton said he will “address the growing presence of data centers in Texas and stop their negative impact on our neighborhoods.”
Texas is a major data center hub.
An April 2026 Pew Research study found the state had a total of 466 data centers either currently operating or planned — second only to Virginia, which had 685.
Meanwhile, the popularity of data centers has plummeted.
In June, a University of Texas poll found 56% of Texans opposed the construction of a data center in their community, with 42% “strongly” opposed.
A mere 29% supported the construction, with just 9% saying they strongly supported it.
Mr. Paxton won the Republican nomination in May with President Trump’s endorsement, defeating GOP incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in a primary runoff.
Texas has not elected a Democratic senator since 1988, and the state favored Mr. Trump by almost 14 points in 2024.
However, The Cook Political Report, a political forecaster, rates the race a “toss-up”— a shift from the “lean Republican” rating it had before Aug. 20.
Multiple Republicans running in competitive Senate races in November have also expressed support for keeping artificial intelligence in check.
Sen. Jon Husted, a Republican seeking to represent Ohio for a full term, has introduced a bill to encourage states to require data centers to pay for their own energy costs.
His Democratic opponent, former Sen. Sherrod Brown, is hostile to data center construction.
Mike Rogers, the Republican Senate nominee in Michigan, has come out in support of a state-level moratorium on new data center construction as he faces Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed, who supports strict federal regulation of data centers.
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