Data center health worries become late midterm issue in Ohio and Arizona

Concerns about the health effects of large data centers — the warehouse-sized buildings that power artificial intelligence — have moved into the final days of the midterm campaign in Ohio and Arizona, according to reporting by KFF Health News and CBS News ¹².

In Page, Arizona, Doug Herrera, 64, lives near a proposed $10 billion data center. The City Council approved the sale of 500 acres for the project, though the developer still needs zoning and other approvals, the outlets reported ¹².

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Herrera said he worries about light pollution, sound pollution and rising temperatures ¹². Residents concerned about possible health effects have signed petitions and organized against construction ¹².

What the research says

Data centers rely on gas generators during peak demand, and the resulting air pollution has been linked to heart conditions, respiratory issues and elevated cancer risks, according to environmental studies cited in the reporting ¹². Emissions could cause nearly 1,300 deaths annually by 2030 and an annual public health burden of more than $20 billion in 2028, based on modeling led by University of California-Riverside researchers ¹².

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Alison Steele, executive director of the nonprofit Environmental Health Project, said the research is only beginning ¹².

We're just starting to see the very early edge of the wave of the research into health impacts of data centers

The Data Center Coalition, an industry trade group, said a review of Virginia, the largest data center market, found backup power use is minimal and that state and federal rules limit potential emissions ¹². Dan Diorio, the group's executive vice president of state policy and government affairs, said: "Data centers are committed to being responsible partners where they operate" ¹².

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Ohio's Senate race

In Ohio, more than a dozen local referendums or initiatives related to data center construction will appear on ballots, the most of any state ¹². Roughly $2.5 billion in state and local tax breaks over the last decade drew Meta, Amazon, Google and other companies to build dozens of centers across the state ¹².

Former Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, is attacking Republican Sen. Jon Husted over the issue in ads that call Husted "the face of data centers" ¹². In one recent video, Brown says: "They're devouring our farmland, sucking up our water, and using our energy" ¹².

An Aug. 18 memo circulated by the National Republican Senatorial Committee and obtained by Politico warned: "More than any other thing in this race, data centers are the anchor hanging around Husted's neck" ¹². Husted spokesperson Tom Evans said the senator believes "data centers should remain a local decision" ¹².

In Arizona's 1st Congressional District, Republican Jay Feely, who won his primary with President Donald Trump's endorsement, says data centers are key to keeping up with China, while Democrat Amish Shah wants a pause on new construction ¹². The state's attorney general has called for a pause on new approvals and building ¹².

Two in 3 Americans oppose construction of new data centers in the U.S., according to an October Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll ¹². About 1,400 data centers operate in the U.S., with more than 2,000 additional planned ¹².

That matters because 60% of data center capacity under construction is in states Trump won by five percentage points or more, according to Cleanview, a market intelligence company ¹². Lee Hannah, a political science professor at Wright State University, said decisions made a year ago to back a data center are "suddenly career-ending" ¹².

The Record

1. Aug 18, 2026An NRSC memo obtained by Politico warned that data centers are "the anchor hanging around Husted's neck" ¹²
2. Oct 29, 2026KFF Health News and CBS News reported that data center health worries are animating midterm campaigns in Ohio and Arizona ¹²

Sources

1. CBS News, “Data center health worries animate midterm campaigns” (2026-10-29). cbsnews.com/news/data-center-health-risks-midterm-elections/
2. KFF Health News, “Data Center Health Worries Animate Midterm Campaigns” (2026-10-29). kffhealthnews.org/elections/data-centers-midterm-campaigns-h

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