Data centers: Where projects go, local candidates follow

Three open city council seats. Three candidates.

Faribault voters had it easier in 2022. 

To be fair to the southern Minnesota city, it was an uncharacteristic year for filings. At least five candidates had appeared on other council ballots between 2008 and 2024.

But none of those races compares to this year. Last Tuesday’s primary featured 10 candidates, and the crowded field couldn’t escape one key question leading up to election day: 

How do you feel about data centers? 

“It’s usually the first topic I’m asked about,” said Lexi Temple, one of a half-dozen candidates who advanced to November’s general election. “It’s by far the top priority.”

One of several Minnesota cities eyed as landing spots for hyperscale AI data centers, Faribault highlights how the issue is beginning to shape elections. It is spurring newcomers to run for office on “transparency” platforms in some of the same places where local officials signed non-disclosure agreements to keep data center details out of the public eye.

Where is this noticeable?

MinnPost monitored city council filings in six cities prominently linked to data center developments over the last couple of years: Faribault, Farmington, Hermantown, Monticello, North Mankato and Pine Island.

In all six, there was an uptick in candidate filings this year compared with 2024. Faribault and North Mankato saw the biggest increases: 

Faribault: 10 candidates (+4 from 2024)

North Mankato: 8 candidates (+4)

Farmington: 6 candidates (+2)

Hermantown: 4 candidates (+2)

Pine Island: 4 candidates (+2)

Monticello: 4 candidates (+1)

Related: Data centers in Minnesota: The next big election issue

Looking at another mid-term election year, five of the six cities had more candidates this year than in 2022; Hermantown has the same number in 2026 as it had in 2022. Combined, more candidates are on ballots in the six cities than in any election over the last decade. 

Higher participation is also reflected in mayoral race filings. Here’s how the numbers contrast with the previous race in four cities with races this year: 

Farmington: 4 candidates (+2 from 2024)

Monticello: 3 candidates (+1)

North Mankato: 2 candidates (uncontested race in 2024)

Pine Island: 2 candidates (uncontested race in 2024)

Are these upticks really about data centers? 

It’s true that these six cities were or are connected to data centers. It’s true that candidate filings are up in these six cities.

But other factors could be motivating more people to seek office. Incumbents may be stepping aside, national politics may be inspiring more civic engagement and data centers aren’t the only issue candidates are talking about.

Take Temple, for example. Another issue, housing, initially motivated her to file for office. 

When Faribault had an opportunity to provide rental assistance to residents this year, Temple said the City Council declined it. The vote came amid resident fears over evictions during Operation Metro Surge.

“In that moment I decided I’m not OK with a vote going in that direction,” Temple said. “I want to do anything I can to make sure votes don’t go that way again.” 

Council inaction on housing ties into data centers, as well, she said. To her, each issue demonstrates a lack of proactivity on big issues. 

“I’m very against data centers and concerned about the health and environmental effects they’d have,” she said. “I’m interested in implementing policies that apply to big tech in general, so we have built-in policies to protect us in the future.”

In a series of candidate profiles in the Faribault Daily News, other candidates in Faribault expressed skepticism toward, if not overt opposition to, data centers. The city’s project is currently on pause after a court order forced more rigorous review of the project.

Related: In pausing data centers, Minnesota courts did what local officials wouldn’t

What about in the other cities?

Monticello has a mayoral candidate described as an “outspoken data center opponent.” Members of a citizen group known as “Stop the Pine Island Data Center” filed for mayoral and city council runs. Hermantown has three candidates lined up against the city’s Google-backed project, as opposed to an incumbent candidate who has defended the development.

One of three opponents is Emma Richtman, an educator who is running for office for the first time. “It’s fair to say that the data center project is what mobilized my civic engagement,” she said.

She grew increasingly frustrated with the council and city staff’s receptiveness to the data center proposal over the last 10 months. It felt like they were overlooking constituent concerns every step of the way, she said. Even worse, city officials mocked and disparaged her and other data center opponents in an internal meeting, according to recordings released by the Duluth Monitor last week.

“I knew elections were coming up and someone needed to step up to help right the ship, turn this around and slow this process to give residents of Hermantown the respect and dignity they deserve,” she said. “I subscribe to that saying, ‘Be the change you want to see in this world.’ And if I want this change I need to show up.”

In North Mankato, City Council members recently held a public hearing to consider a moratorium on data centers. If elected, candidate Peter Garner would support it.

Garner is one of eight candidates competing for two council seats in November. Like Temple and Richtman, this is his first time running for local office.

Whether it’s a data center or a costly public works building, large-scale projects need to be subject to public input early in the planning process, Garner said. He didn’t see that play out in North Mankato over the past year, which is why transparency is a theme in his campaign.

It didn’t surprise him to hear that more people are running for office in other cities tied to data centers.

“I think it’s something that people across the community, across the political spectrum, can get behind,” he said. “People in those communities, and in North Mankato as well, love how close our community is, how close it is to nature and being kind of more of a rural, peaceful setting. When people realize what a hyperscale data center is, I think it really spurs people into action.”

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