Ohio Gubernatorial Race Roils Over Data Center Incentives and COVID Lockdown Criticism
Democratic candidate Amy Acton, former director of the Ohio Department of Health, is facing intense Republican attacks over the state's COVID‑19 lockdowns. Republicans, including Senate President Rob McColley, claim the measures led to school closures, business shutdowns and job losses, accusing Acton of following Dr. Fauci's playbook.
Acton has outlined a new plan for data centers in Ohio, demanding that any new facility meet conditions on energy costs, union labor, transparency, environmental standards and be built on brownfield sites. The proposal does not call for cutting the existing data‑center tax exemption.
Republican Jon Husted, Ohio’s lieutenant governor from 2019‑2025, is being blamed for championing the state's data‑center boom. He helped secure a $43.5 million tax incentive and a 15‑year property‑tax abatement for a $600 million Google data center in 2019. Ohio now hosts about 240 data centers, and the expansion has driven a 175 % rise in residential electricity rates since 2005, far outpacing national increases.
Entities: Amy Acton · Google · Jon Husted · Ohio · Rob McColley
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Amy Acton was the former director of the Ohio Department of Health. (6ef982b4-33bf-452d-a2d6-8e716e8a82f4)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Rob McColley reposted a video criticizing Amy Acton’s pandemic policies. (6ef982b4-33bf-452d-a2d6-8e716e8a82f4)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Republicans claim Amy Acton's COVID‑19 lockdown decisions caused school closures, business shutdowns and job losses in Ohio. (6ef982b4-33bf-452d-a2d6-8e716e8a82f4)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] In 2019 Jon Husted secured $43.5 million in tax incentives and a 15‑year property‑tax abatement for Google’s $600 million data center in central Ohio. (09fab1df-9d2c-4c66-9945-526f33e50ff5)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Jon Husted led the effort to attract data centers to Ohio, which has driven a rise in utility rates. (09fab1df-9d2c-4c66-9945-526f33e50ff5)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Amy Acton’s plan does not propose cutting the size of Ohio’s data‑center tax exemption. (857b7922-9e38-4be8-8dcb-b47cd2b9ccd0)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Amy Acton proposes that new Ohio data centers meet conditions on energy costs, union labor, transparency, environmental standards and be built on brownfield sites. (857b7922-9e38-4be8-8dcb-b47cd2b9ccd0)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Data centers have contributed to a 175 % increase in Ohio residential electricity rates since 2005, rising faster than national rates and inflation. (09fab1df-9d2c-4c66-9945-526f33e50ff5)