The backlash to data centers seems to be spreading like a contagion, and, with the midterm elections only a few months away, candidates are trying their hardest to keep up. Politicians across the country are starting to take a more public stance against the facilities in an attempt to ward off any political fallout from voters in an election cycle where control of Congress lies in the balance.

One of those lunges just came from Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, who has trailed his Democratic opponent, state representative James Talarico, in recent polling. On Monday, Paxton announced his “Texas First Data Center Plan,” a four-point plan that calls for the creation of legislation that bans the use of Chinese technology in data centers as well as a bill that would hold data-center companies criminally liable if their center “empowers AI chatbots that undermine children’s safety” among other measures.

“Texans deserve a fighter to lead and represent them as we address the growing presence of data centers in Texas and stop their negative impact on our neighborhoods,” Paxton said in a press release announcing the plan.

Talarico has called for tighter regulation on the facilities, including repealing data centers’ sales-tax exemption, and criticized his opponent’s new move in a statement, accusing Paxton of taking close to a half a million dollars from data-center companies. “Now he’s scared his ties to big data center companies........

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