Cheryl Shadden takes note when the noisy data center across the road from her Hood County farm turns the volume down when reporters or politicians visit her neighborhood.
That was the case, she said, when Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa — running for governor against Republican incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott — stopped by in July.
“When she said she was coming to Granbury, it was within an hour and it was completely silent here," Shadden said. "Completely silent.”
Shadden has been protesting the data center, owned by a crypto mining company, in her neighborhood for more than two years. Her activism has made headlines across the region for efforts to stop more facilities from moving to the area.
She said she voted Republican in the past, but now she’s fed up with the party — enough so that she agreed to be in an ad for Hinojosa’s campaign for governor.
“This is not about being red, this is not about being blue. This is not about you being purple and pink polka dots," Shadden said in the video. "This about human rights.”
The ongoing debate over data centers in Texas could be a decisive factor in the upcoming governor’s race between Abbott and Hinojosa. It's also a central issue for the U.S. Senate race between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democratic state Rep. James Talarico.
Shadden is among a handful of conservative voters who say they’re either voting Democrat or sitting out the midterm elections altogether. That’s because they're seeing the impact of data centers on their communities firsthand.
Rena Schroeder ran as a Republican earlier this year for the 22nd State Senate district – which includes Hood County. She said she lost the March primary to David Cook because of her opposition to data centers.
As a representative for her precinct, she tried to pass a resolution at her district conference to keep big tech out of state and local politics.
“You think that I would have started World War Three. They all started fighting with me," Schroeder said. "I'm like, am I here with, we're Republicans, y'all are farmers. What the hell are you doing?”
Now she has endorsed the Democratic candidate running against Cook, who was endorsed by Abbott. Schroeder said she believes Abbott and the Republican Party sold Texas out to "big tech" by offering tax breaks and other incentives.
Abbott previously promised to make Texas a hub for data center developments – but in recent months, as public opposition grows, he’s begun to rein them in.
“What I did is I pressed pause on any new data center approval in the state of Texas," Abbott said in a Fox News interview, "and then I established guidelines and guardrails for all data centers to comply with."
Hinojosa and other Democrats are calling for an immediate moratorium on new data centers and an end to tax handouts for developers.
Meanwhile, the state Republican party is also calling for tighter regulations – it made the issue one of the GOP’s priorities during their convention earlier this year.
“I think those are pretty strong indications that just calling it economic development and telling people not to get their feathers ruffled isn't a path that people running for re-election will want to tread anymore,” said Robert Paterson, who specializes in land use and environment at UT Austin.
He said there’s stronger opposition to data centers in rural counties compared to cities because the large-scale projects are so disruptive.
“I don't think you can easily dodge it when you've got a data center proposal in your county," Paterson said.
While some GOP voters are breaking rank, others like Mary Jo Bloomquist are disillusioned with voting altogether. She lives near a data center in Hood County and said the governor’s actions are too little, too late.
“I think he just wants to get re-elected," Bloomquist said. "If he really cared, if he really wanted to do something, he would call a special session."
For voters like Bloomquist, staying home seems to be the only choice.
“I'm so disheartened. I think it's all manipulated," she said. "I don't have faith in politicians on either side.”
A study by the Texas Politics Project, a nonpartisan research initiative, found that more than half of Texans oppose data center construction near their home.
“In an era in which we do see declining trust in a range of institutions, it's important to note that big tech companies aren't looked at fondly by many Texans,” said Joshua Blank with the TPP.
Another survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania shows that 3 in 5 adults in the U.S. oppose data center construction.
Blank says if would-be GOP voters like Bloomquist do sit out the upcoming election, it could spell trouble for Republican candidates.
“In an election environment in which we expect the outcome to be pretty close, if some share of those rural Republicans stay home, the GOP's firewall in Texas becomes a lot less formidable,” Blank said.
Pablo Arauz Peña is KERA’s growth and infrastructure reporter. Got a tip? Email Pablo at parauzpena@kera.org.
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