Kotek and Drazan spar over data centers
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images
Support for data centers is emerging as a crucial — and counterintuitive — line of attack in the Oregon gubernatorial race, Willamette Week reports.
Why it matters: Gov. Tina Kotek and state Sen. Christine Drazan are each trying to turn their opponent's record on data centers into a liability ahead of the November election.
Driving the news: Drazan launched a 30-second ad last week claiming Kotek had "rolled out the red carpet" for data centers in the form of "more than a billion in tax breaks."
- Kotek's campaign responded by noting Drazan voted against a bill that required tech companies to pay for their energy use and rejected the idea of an "arbitrary moratorium" on data centers.
The intrigue: Both candidates have records that complicate their attacks.
- Data centers expanded rapidly and got big tax breaks during Kotek's first term.
- And Drazan did vote against the POWER Act, opposes a statewide moratorium on data centers and hedged on restricting their water use during her 2022 campaign.
The latest: Kotek said Tuesday that she now supports a statewide moratorium on data centers.
By the numbers: Recent polling has shown more than 70% of Oregonians hold negative views of data centers.
What they're saying: The politics of data centers aren't as clear cut as some other issues, DHM pollster John Horvick told Willamette Week.
- "It's typically Republicans who want to lower taxes to encourage development and business creation," Horvick said. "And it's typically the Democrats who are close to the trade unions and want to support them with construction projects."
The bottom line: Both campaigns are betting that opposition to data centers can move voters in November.