Data Center Blues

The Blue "tsunami" that washed across America on Tuesday, sweeping Republicans out of office in even what had previously been considered "safe" strongholds, such as Texas, Kansas, South Carolina, and Ohio, led to a massive downturn in Tech stocks on Wall Street, yesterday. While at first there had been some investor euphoria on Wednesday, on hopes that at least with a divided Congress–instead of one completely dominated by Republicans–there might be some hope for less regulation while the two sides bickered. But, by yesterday; that hope apparently fizzled, and investors rushed to sell off tech stocks, on concerns that AI and data center regulation may indeed be on the way, now that Democrats will make up a majority in both houses of Congress, and many previously "red" state Governorships have also changed hands. One of those states where the future of data centers is in question, is Ohio, where there are now over 200 of those types of facilities statewide, as a result of efforts over the past 15 years on the part of Republican state leaders who encouraged tech companies to locate here with both property and sales tax incentives. Listen now, as we explore how data centers became one of the key issues that helped bring Democrat Sherrod Brown back to the US Senate, after beating Republican Jon Husted, who was one of the state officials most identified with trying to bring new jobs to Ohio, by making deals with big tech. But of course, Ohio is not alone when it comes to those types of efforts, which is why furious voters nationwide pushed back in a big way on Tuesday. You'll hear all about why they're upset, and what newly elected Democratic politicians in other parts of the country are saying they want to do about it.