This Data Center Foe Just Won His Democratic House Primary in Michigan

_This story was originally published b_y the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

William Lawrence, a prominent environmental organizer who foregrounded his support for a data center moratorium, has won the Democratic primary in Michigan’s seventh congressional district in a victory for progressives.

Lawrence was a co-founder of the youth-led climate justice organization the Sunrise Movement, the group that in 2018 mainstreamed calls for a Green New Deal to battle economic injustice while rapidly phasing out planet-warming fossil fuels. The 36-year-old defeated Bridget Brink, a former US ambassador to Ukraine and Slovakia, and Matt Maasdam, a former US Navy Seal and military aide to Barack Obama.

In the November general election, Lawrence will face off with incumbentRepublican Tom Barrett. Lawrencesecured endorsements from Senator Bernie Sanders, as well as Representative Rashida Tlaib and progressive US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. On the campaign trail, he highlighted his support for universal healthcare, boosting taxes on billionaires, and ending the war in Iran and arms sales to Israel.

A recent poll suggests roughly two-thirds of voters, and nearly half of Republicans, likely favor candidates who call for pausing data center construction.

But his biggest focus may have been his opposition to the unchecked build-out of AI data centers; he focused on the issue in his first television ad.

“Will made opposing data center development a core part of this campaign and it helped power him to victory all across the district, including massive margins in small towns where DC insiders didn’t expect him to compete,” Stevie O’Hanlon, Lawrence’s campaign manager, said. “In Mason, where one data center is being proposed, Will won with 49 percent of the vote in a three-way race.”

In May, Lawrence said “data centers put a tremendous, unprecedented and unexpected burden on the grid to increase overall demand” and that there is “no plan to do that in a clean way.”

Survey research conducted by the left-learning polling firm Data for Progress found that 63 percent of US voters, including 66 percent of independents and 47 percent of Republicans, were more likely to support a candidate calling for pausing data center construction.

“Tonight the people of Michigan’s 7th district sent a clear message: They are tired of Silicon Valley billionaires and DC insiders determining the future of our towns and our country,” he said in a Tuesday night statement. “They want an unbought representative who isn’t afraid to stand up to leaders of both parties and fight for working people.”

Lawrence’s district in central Michigan is one of just 18 House seats that the Cook Political Report called “toss-ups.” Barrett has often voted with Trump.

“Tom Barrett may have the high-powered DC consultants and corporate CEOs in his corner, but our movement is made up of real Michiganders, coming together across political differences,” Lawrence said in his election night statement.