![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/adobestock306432800-e6646307.webp?resize=440%2C231&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nBy Josh Israel for the\u00a0Florida Independent.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Broadcast version by Trimmel Gomes for Florida News Connection reporting for the Florida Independent-Public News Service Collaboration<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n As a significant number of Florida voters across the political spectrum are speaking out against constructing large artificial intelligence data centers in the state, gubernatorial candidates of both parties are addressing how they would handle the issue. While several candidates have called for a moratorium or ban on new AI data center construction, some have opposed that approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn order to generate artificial intelligence and utilize technology, you have to build these massive centers that are essentially computers that generate things on a constant basis, and because of the need for energy, it requires a lot of utility services,\u201d said Jonathan Alingu, co-executive director of the Center Florida Jobs with Justice coalition, which has worked to organize opposition to AI data center construction in Florida. \u201cIt requires a lot of water, and so much so that it takes away from residents that need both of those services, and the result is it drives up the prices on both areas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brooke Alexander-Goss, organizing manager for the Sierra Club Florida Chapter, told the Florida Independent that data centers present environmental and quality-of-life problems: \u201cWe already have a very delicate water system in the state, and we know that data centers are among the most water-intensive commercial facilities that exist. People are concerned about the noise that data centers produce, and I think people are really starting to figure out that when a proposal is being presented by a developer, they tend to talk about, Oh, it\u2019s going to create so many jobs, and I think communities are catching on to the fact that those jobs are very temporary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, and Sarasota counties have adopted temporary moratoriums on new AI data center construction projects, according to<\/a> WTSP 10 in Tampa Bay, and other communities are considering similar pauses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Javier Estevez, the political and legislative director of Sierra Club Florida, said a statewide moratorium is a necessary first step: \u201cA moratorium is what\u2019s needed in order to keep any data centers from being built. But what\u2019s important is what policies do we put in place later, before any data centers are actually built in the state of Florida \u2014 when I say \u2018data centers,\u2019 I mean hyperscale big AI data centers in the state of Florida. What kind of guardrails do we put to ensure that Floridians are protected from data centers and all the negative effects that that could bring?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A July poll<\/a> by the University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab of likely Florida voters found that while respondents were evenly split on whether the growth of AI has been a good thing, just 28% would support building an AI data center in their local area and 68% would oppose it. \u201cWhile Floridians are evenly split on their impressions of AI, opposition to the building of data centers is overwhelming,\u201d said the research lab\u2019s faculty director, Sean Freeder, in the polling memo. \u201cEven groups who are positive about the technology don\u2019t want its support infrastructure anywhere near where they live.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The issue has unified liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans, said Estevez: \u201cNothing is successful in the state, no matter how big your coalition is, if the local residents and Floridians aren\u2019t on your side about it, and that is why this is becoming such a big hot-topic issue in this campaign. It is because Floridians across the state, across the aisle, are saying hell, no to data centers. We need to make sure that we\u2019re protected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here is where the leading Democratic and Republican gubernatorial candidates stand on AI data centers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Republican Lt. Gov. Jay Collins<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Collins opposes a moratorium, instead proposing requirements that large data centers provide their own water and power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a July 17 social media post<\/a>, he argued that cities and counties should make their own choices. \u201cI\u2019m putting my money where my mouth is. And I want to make sure that, in these things, out of ease, we don\u2019t just go right back to state control.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In an email, campaign press secretary Jason Puwalski said: \u201cLt. Governor Collins supports local communities using their authority to pause or reject projects when water, grid capacity, or neighborhood impacts have not been addressed. What he does not support is a blanket statewide moratorium that treats every facility the same and may not survive a legal challenge. His Florida Strong Plan requires hyperscale operators to pay for the power, water, and infrastructure they need. Florida families will not subsidize them. The plan protects local decision-making, strengthens water and aquifer review, and requires transparency around ownership, NDAs, job claims, and promised community benefits. If a developer cannot meet Florida\u2019s standards, it does not build here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Republican U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n During a campaign event in Clearwater on July 24, WUSF in Tampa reported<\/a>, Donalds expressed opposition to moratoriums. Referring to a New York state moratorium, he said: \u201cBut you also have to understand that when you start doing stuff like what New York just did, that\u2019s a signal to the business community that this is not a place to invest capital. This is not a place to invest in businesses, and so we have to be balanced and be mindful about that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In May 2025, Donalds told<\/a> the Economic Club of Miami: \u201cI think for the future of the state, what\u2019s going to be important are data centers and power. Those are going to be the two critical things for the state of Florida. \u2026 You\u2019re going to have data centers, tech firms, etc. We need to embrace that, not run away from that. And the beauty of our state, unlike New York or Illinois, where their regulatory environments are atrocious, or California, where they basically just destroyed themselves because they\u2019re dumb and don\u2019t know how to govern \u2014 we are wide open. We have actual land. I mean, not here in Miami, but we have actual land in our state that is still pristine, available to use. We can build out that stuff and still maintain the beauty of our state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n On July 20, Donalds announced<\/a> that he was proposing a federal bill to regulate all data centers nationally. In a press release, he said the Protecting Ratepayers Act \u201crequires all new and existing data centers to generate and use their own power and water. This common-sense approach will ease the burden on individuals and households everywhere without stifling our economic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A day later, Politico reported<\/a> that Donalds has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from developers who have proposed data centers in Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In an email, campaign communications director Gates McGavick said: \u201cByron Donalds answers to no one besides the voters of Florida. Byron has also been very clear: no protections for ratepayers and Florida\u2019s natural resources means no data centers. That\u2019s why he\u2019s leading and legislating on this issue while other candidates react to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Republican business executive James Fishback<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Fishback has called for a full statewide ban on state centers. The top item on the platform page<\/a> on his campaign website is his plan to stop them. \u201cYou didn\u2019t vote for data centers, but they are being built in every corner of our state, turning Florida farmland into a dystopian wasteland. Data centers raise electric bills, jeopardize our water supply, and crater property values in surrounding communities. They consume enormous amounts of land, water, and power, and Floridians get nothing in return,\u201d it says. \u201cAs Governor, James Fishback will not reform data centers. He will not regulate them. He will ban them in all 67 counties by preventing county commissions from approving them in the first place. It is called statewide preemption, and Fishback will get it done to protect Florida\u2019s land, water, and electric bills from an industry that takes everything and gives nothing back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Fishback campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Republican former Florida House of Representatives Speaker Paul Renner<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In April, Renner called for<\/a> a moratorium on AI data center construction in Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe push for AI Data Center developments is a reckless gold rush,\u201d he said in a press release<\/a>. \u201cBig Tech and major utilities are pushing massive data center projects at a pace that outstrips oversight, transparency, and common sense. As Governor, I\u2019ll stop it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo be clear, I support a statewide moratorium, i.e., full ban on the construction of hyper-scale data centers without ANY time limit,\u201d he posted<\/a> on X on July 25. \u201cThat is what I will propose to the legislature in the first 100 days.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Renner campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n