DE SOTO, Kan. — KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers Johnson County. She also focuses on issues surrounding the cost of healthcare, saving for retirement and personal debt. Share your story idea with Elyse.
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The data center debate has become one of the top issues nationwide, and it's playing a role in this year's Kansas governor race.
The De Soto, Kansas, community knows this topic all too well. In De Soto, two data center projects are moving forward.
Johnson County voter Abby Baker lives in De Soto. She said she's fighting to keep her community informed and that the issue of data centers influenced how she voted.
"I would hope that the next governor would have more safeguards in place for all of Kansas," Baker said. "It is becoming a household issue, right? Every single place is having the same issue of getting these hyperscale data centers in these small communities, and they're wanting them out."
NBC News reported that pro-data center super PAC Building the Future is spending more than $1.5 million to support Sen. Ty Masterson, the Republican candidate in the Kansas governor race.
Sen. Cindy Holscher, his Democratic opponent, told NBC News she would "keep fighting for guardrails on data centers."
Masterson and Holscher both voted last year for a bill to give data center developers sales tax exemptions.
Holscher has changed her position on the legislation, now advocating for a statewide moratorium. Masterson opposes moratoriums.
Park University professor Matt Harris told KSHB 41 last week the data center issue is becoming more top of mind for voters.
"It's particularly an issue we see where people have really strong opinions where there have been proposed data centers, and so in those areas I think it's going to become a bigger political issue, particularly at the local level," Harris said.
It's important to note there are no clearly defined party lines on the issue.
"It doesn't really matter if you're red or blue or somewhere in between. It really is just a matter of, it's affecting us," Baker said.
Baker said, for her, this issue is bigger than politics.
"It's exactly like affordable housing or schools or anything else. It's just one of those new issues that I think, unfortunately, is going to be around for a while," Baker said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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