Democrat Gina Hinojosa, who is running for governor, has pledged to ban new data center approvals until the legislature passes a bill to protect communities from the facilities. She said a recent pause on new approvals by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott does not go far enough to address concerns about power and water use from roughly 200 planned facilities in the state. Recent polls show Hinojosa and Abbott in a tight race.
Data centers are also an issue in the Senate race between Democratic state Rep. James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton, the state's attorney general. Talarico has accused Paxton of "selling off Texas" to the data center industry by accepting campaign contributions from the sector while state leaders approved tax exemptions for developers.
Paxton has said he supports Abbott's restrictions on the industry and wants to make sure state residents do not pay for the facilities. According to the report, Texas has the second-most data centers in the country.