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AI data centers become a flashpoint in Maine's Senate race

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AI data centers become a flashpoint in Maine's Senate race

The Verge reports that AI data centers have become one of the most volatile issues in Maine's Senate race, just days before voters go to the polls. The scene that opens the piece: during the final debate, an audience member interrupted Republican Sen. Susan Collins, shouting "I'm terrified. AI data centers are destroying our climate. They are poisoning our water." Collins brushed off the outburst and tied the man to her Democratic challenger, Troy Jackson.

The backlash is not new. In April the Maine Legislature passed what would have been the nation's first statewide moratorium on large data centers, but Gov. Janet Mills vetoed the bill 10 days later. Towns across the state have since adopted temporary moratoriums or put data center expansion to voters this November. In a September UMass Lowell/YouGov poll of Mainers, 76 percent of respondents said they oppose building a data center in their community, and 58 percent were strongly opposed.

The money is enormous. The race is set to be the most expensive Senate race per capita the US has seen, with Democrats spending a projected $81 million and Republicans $114 million. The article says the outcome will help decide which party controls the Senate and help shape federal data center and AI policy. Maine draws data center developers because it has cheap land, vacant industrial mills and buildings, and plenty of water. Molly White, who runs the Tech Influence Watch tracker, says voters pay close attention because they link data centers to rising utility bills, at a time when heating oil costs are at record highs. She says the playbook of AI and data center backers resembles the one the crypto industry used in 2024.

On jobs, the article says developers and allies often promise long-term employment, but economic research indicates most data centers create virtually no net employment once construction is complete. Maine's timber industry contributed around $8.3 billion to the state economy in 2024, yet tariffs and rising costs have caused mill closures and layoffs. Mark Brewer, who chairs the political science department at the University of Maine, says Maine has long tolerated extractive industries because they provided jobs, but with data centers "the jobs part of it's not there." Nicholas Jacobs, director of the Public Policy Lab at Colby College, says rural residents worry about opaque ownership, limited long-term jobs, and wealth being extracted from their communities.

Collins, the 73-year-old chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has largely supported data centers and AI like most congressional Republicans, though she says they should be evaluated individually. She used her committee position to secure $6.2 million in federal funding for a high-performance computing hub data center in central Maine. Her donors include Palantir's Alex Karp, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, and people from Google, Meta and Microsoft. White's tracker shows $325,644 from AI and crypto donors, and nearly 100 billionaires have donated to her bid in some form.

Outside groups add more. The Republican Senate Leadership Fund and similar super PACs put nearly $42 million into ads across Maine. Elon Musk gave the fund $158 million this summer and has spent around $450 million of his own money backing Republicans in the midterms; his America PAC has spent about $2.1 million in Maine. Pine Tree Results PAC, which has personal ties to Collins and her husband, put $29.1 million into the race for her, including $2 million this year from Blackstone's Stephen Schwarzman. An FEC report flagged by the Maine Newsroom shows Musk's corporate SpaceX PAC gave $55,000 to Collins' Victory Committee in August and $50,000 to Pine Tree Results.

Collins' family also has stakes in the boom. Forbes ranked her household fifth in the Senate for AI- and data center-linked investments, with an estimated $300,000 to $800,000 held in the name of her husband, Thomas Daffron. Daffron is a former lobbyist who was paid consulting fees in 2025 by the lobbying firm of Scott Reed, who chairs Pine Tree Results. According to American Journal News and The New York Times, Reed's firm lobbied for a developer that has built data centers in Maine. Collins and her husband hold assets of $4 million to $10 million.

Jackson, who started as a logger before being elected to the state Senate, has recently earned money from consulting and, with his wife, holds assets of $147,000 to $430,000. His FEC filing shows no obvious data center, AI or Big Tech ties, though it lists at least four billionaire donors. His stance is similar to Collins': he focuses on guardrails for AI and data center development and wants union jobs for building and maintaining data centers.

The tone of the race is harsh. Brewer calls it the most negative race he has tracked in 25 years of watching Maine politics. With broadcast TV inventory sold out, campaigns have moved money to radio, social media and direct mail. Per a Maine Monitor report, $54 million had been spent or committed on negative ads as of mid-October, nearly all from outside PACs. No ads have focused specifically on Collins' support for data centers and AI, though some have targeted her ties to Big Tech, billionaires and data centers through her husband. Brewer doubts the spending will sway rural views on data centers, and says voters may instead punish Collins for her ties to Musk and other unpopular tech billionaires. Jacobs says the overwhelming share of the money goes to attack ads, consultants and polling.

Key facts

  • A September UMass Lowell/YouGov poll found 76 percent of Maine respondents oppose a data center in their community, 58 percent strongly.
  • Maine's Legislature passed what would have been the first statewide moratorium on large data centers in April; Gov. Janet Mills vetoed it 10 days later.
  • The Senate race is projected to see $81 million of Democratic and $114 million of Republican spending; Elon Musk gave $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund this summer.
  • Susan Collins has received $325,644 from AI and crypto donors per Molly White's tracker, and Forbes ranked her household fifth in the Senate for AI- and data center-linked investments.
  • Challenger Troy Jackson's filings show no obvious data center or Big Tech ties, but his stance is similar to Collins': guardrails and union jobs.

Why it matters

The Verge frames the Maine race as a test of whether local anger at data centers can show up in a high-stakes federal contest. The article says the result will help decide which party controls the Senate and will help shape federal data center and AI policy, which affects construction well beyond Maine. It also notes that Maine's backlash reached the statehouse: a statewide moratorium passed in April before the governor's veto, which would have been a national first. The headline's claim that the revolt "will decide" the Senate is the outlet's framing; the body says the outcome will help determine control.

Who it affects

Rural Maine residents and former mill towns weighing tax-base gains against utility costs, water use and few lasting jobs. Candidates Susan Collins and Troy Jackson. Data center developers and AI and Big Tech donors who have put money into the race. More broadly, rural communities elsewhere that face the same pitch of cheap land and water, and anyone following federal AI and data center policy.

How to use it

Read it as a guide to what to watch. Local moratorium votes in Maine towns this November show how opposition plays out below the federal level. Donor-tracking sources named in the piece, such as Molly White's Tech Influence Watch, FEC filings and the Maine Monitor's ad-spending reporting, are where the money claims can be followed. For anyone planning rural data center projects, the article's list of local concerns is concrete: opaque ownership, limited long-term jobs, rising utility costs and wealth leaving the community.

How solid is it

The piece rests on a named poll (UMass Lowell/YouGov, September), named experts (White, Brewer, Jacobs), FEC filings, a Maine Monitor ad-spending report and a Forbes ranking, with specific dollar figures. The claim about Reed's firm lobbying for a Maine data center developer is attributed to American Journal News and The New York Times. The claim that data centers create virtually no net jobs after construction is attributed to unnamed economic research. Spending figures such as $81 million and $114 million are projections.

Risks and caveats

Brewer is skeptical that the spending will change rural voters' views on data centers, so the money may not move opinion in the direction donors want. The article does not say that donations or Daffron's investments influenced any of Collins' votes or decisions. Jackson's position is similar to hers, so the data center issue does not map cleanly onto the two candidates. The jobs claim cites no named studies. The audience member at the debate is not named, and his remarks are one voter's view, not data.

“It’s one thing to put up with a paper mill that’s employing three shifts of 1,000 workers, right? Data centers aren’t doing that.”

— Mark Brewer, chair of the political science department at the University of Maine