Data center backlash ousts incumbents in some Minnesota towns

Fervent opposition to large-scale data centers proved to be a motivating political factor in high-profile races from Ohio to Texas in this year’s election. The hot-button issue also played a major role in some local races across Minnesota.

In Pine Island, a town of 4,000 just north of Rochester, a political neophyte who opposed the planned Google data center there won two-thirds of the vote against the incumbent interim mayor who supports the project.

And in Hermantown, where a second Google data center generated a fierce backlash from local residents, two political newcomers won seats to the city council, outpolling an incumbent who voted to approve the massive project just last week.

“The people of this community have spoken up loud,” said Emma Richtman, who won 36 percent of the vote, the most among the four candidates for city council.

“It’s so validating,” Richtman added. “It feels like a public referendum on the community's feelings about this data center.”

Richtman had no political ambitions before she became involved with the grassroots group Stop the Hermatown Data Center, which formed last year after plans for a 1.7 million square foot data center in a rural residential corner of the city near Duluth first became public.

“I went from everyday mom to citizen activist,” Richtman said. From there it was an easy step to run for city council, she said. “The people of this community needed to have someone championing them.”

An issue bridging the political divide

At polling places around Hermantown Tuesday, several voters said the data center was a motivating issue. And it’s one that transcends typical partisan divisions. Both liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans who spoke to MPR News – who don’t agree on much – agreed on their opposition to the data center.

"It's just one of those things that's being shoved down our throats,” said Jack Liabraaten, 81, a Republican who cited immigration and preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon as key issues for him.

Locally, he said he voted for Richtman and Candi Mock, another candidate who ran on an anti-data center platform. Mock finished second and won a seat with 28 percent of the vote.

“They’ve spent hours upon hours just reading through the documents, and they're doing stuff so the rest of us don't necessarily have to read all that fine print,” said Liabraaten. “To me they both have the right ideas, and they both talk about doing things peacefully.”

Many voters who were somewhat ambivalent about the data center itself were nonetheless incensed with how city leaders handled its development and approval. Two city officials signed non-disclosure agreements, or NDAs, that prevented them from discussing the issue for over a year, while the groundwork was being laid for the project.

"I personally don't know if I'm for or against the data center,” said Leann Fahlsing, a lifelong Hermantown resident. “But what I am against is the lack of transparency, the idea that a lot of this happened underground, before anybody knew anything that was happening.”

Mark Lang, the mayor-elect in Pine Island, said voters there feel the same way. Locals accuse city officials of hashing out details for the data center in secret.

“A lot of people aren't really against data centers,” Lang said. “What we were really against is how we were left out of the loop.”

Lang is also a political newbie. He’s a corporate pilot who was motivated to run by the data center issue. He said in Pine Island it’s also brought people together from across the political spectrum.

The project there is on hold following a recent settlement that calls for a more thorough environmental review overseen by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

Lang said he hopes to eventually sit down with everyone involved to find areas where Google and new city leaders can find common ground to improve the project as much as possible.

“We're going to agree right off the bat not to be disagreeable. We're going to respect each other,” Lang said.

Lang will have an ally in Tosca Wohl, another first-time candidate who opposed the data center who ran for one of two seats on the City Council. She received the most votes, with 28 percent of the tally.

Mixed message in some communities

But the anti-data center sentiment wasn’t universal around the state. Some cities split their votes among candidates who both support and oppose the projects.

Two city council candidates in Pine Island who support the Google data center there tied for the second council seat.

In Monticello, about 40 miles northwest of Minneapolis, Mayor Lloyd Hilgart retained his seat by a slim 40-vote margin over Monica Primeau, who has voiced opposition to a hyperscale data center proposed for the city.

Meanwhile, Derek Armstrong defeated incumbent Tracy Hinz for a seat on the Monticello City Council. Armstrong also has raised concerns about the data center project, as has council member Charlotte Gabler, who was elected to another term.

In Hermantown, data center opponents continue to fight the project in court. This week the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy and Stop the Hermantown Data Center filed a lawsuit in St. Louis County court alleging the project’s environmental review doesn’t meet state requirements.

The groups argue for a more robust environmental study, similar to what was agreed to recently in Pine Island following a lawsuit there. “Google is pursuing a state-level environmental review in Pine Island. It should do the same in Hermantown,” said Abigail Hencheck, a staff attorney for MCEA.

But if it moves forward, construction is expected to stretch for six to eight years or even longer.

Richtman said she plans to bring transparency to the project as it moves forward. It’s what she campaigned on, she said.

“Despite the fact that these permits have been issued and agreements have been signed, this does not go away,” she said. “I am here to represent the will of the constituents of Hermantown.”

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