Data centers capture attention of voters ahead of Missouri, Kansas primary elections

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne reports on stories in Overland Park, Johnson County and topics about government accountability. Share your story idea with Isabella.

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Big questions and primary candidates are capturing the attention of voters in Missouri and Kansas ahead of Tuesday's primary election.

An issue you won't see on the ballot Tuesday, yet is changing the political landscape, is data centers. The majority of candidates running on both sides of the state line have had something to say about the massive developments popping up all over the Kansas City metro area.

Data centers are an important issue to voters, especially in Kansas, where a coalition has launched a pledge for candidates to sign.

More than a dozen candidates running in Kansas elections have signed No Data Centers in Kansas' pledge, which promises safeguards and transparency on data center development if elected.

Voters like Carrie Schmidt are tracking which candidates have signed the pledge.

"People are going to win pretty much based on their opinion of the data centers," Schmidt said.

As part of the pledge, candidates promise to end preferential treatment through special tax incentives, require independent environmental and infrastructure impact studies before approval of large-scale projects, protect local water resources, establish reasonable buffer zones between hyperscale data centers and schools, and ensure public hearings.

Four out of 10 registered Kansas gubernatorial candidates have signed the pledge.

"We can have data centers, but we need to do it responsibly," Schmidt said.

KSHB 41 News reporter Isabella Ledonne reached out to every registered candidate in KC-area races, asking if they support data center development and tax incentives for the companies behind them. Candidates' stances don't fall within party lines, but instead lean more toward the public opinion of the people in that voting district.

"It's something that's become a political topic," Matt Harris, associate professor of political science at Park University, said.

Harris explained he isn't surprised many candidates are speaking out against data centers.

"It can be kind of a risky thing politically, if you're a politician taking a stance in favor of them because people tend not to like them," Harris said.

Issues like the economy and the cost of living are expected to be the big tickets at the federal level, but locally, data centers could make or break a campaign run.

"When elections come down to a few voters here or there, as they sometimes do, those issues can be really meaningful," Harris said.

Even though data centers aren't on the ballot for Tuesday's election, that hasn't stopped several metro communities from trying to put proposed projects up to a public vote.

"I think it will be more of an issue and sort of work its way up the levels of government as time goes on," Harris said.

You can find candidates' stances on data centers in Missouri and Kansas here.

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