Running for City Council in Farmington this year, Ben Blomgren said voters asked him about data centers more than anything else.
asserted
voters → run → anything
“This was the issue that everyone wanted to talk about,” he said.
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he → want → that
“When I went door to door, it was about the data center.”
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it → go → center
Blomgren had a clear position on the proposed Farmington Technology Park hyperscale data center project.
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Blomgren → have → project
He opposed it, and, if elected, would vote against it at every turn.
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He → oppose → turn
On Election Day, the candidate earned the most votes out of six people running for two open seats.
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candidate → earn → seats
When he takes office in January, he’ll be one of a host of newly elected leaders in Minnesota bringing skeptical stances against data centers to local governments.
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he → take → governments
A spike in voter turnout in Farmington and other cities linked to data centers helped these candidates win, according to data from the Minnesota Secretary of State.
uncertain
candidates → link → State
The data center effect
Data centers became a new election issue in Minnesota this year.
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centers → become → Minnesota
After city leaders opened doors to developments – sometimes using nondisclosure agreements to keep details out of the public eye – residents in suburban Farmington and Greater Minnesota cities like Hermantown, Faribault, Pine Island and Monticello organized against them.
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residents → open → them
In the face of this loud opposition, projects mostly inched forward unless courts slowed them down.
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courts → inch → them
But the issue contributed to an uptick in candidates filing to run in local government elections this year.
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issue → contribute → elections
On the campaign trail, at forums and in newspaper articles, data centers dominated the discourse.
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centers → dominate → discourse
Several races offered stark differences between candidates on the issue.
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races → offer → issue
Pine Island’s mayoral race, for example, featured an appointed incumbent who supported Google’s data center project against a candidate motivated to run against it.
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who → feature → it
The latter, Mark Lang, won in a landslide.
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latter → win → landslide
Voter turnout data showed 12% more people in Pine Island voted in the race compared with the last midterm race in 2022.
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people → show → 2022
In Hermantown, tensions flared in late October when council members approved a key step in the regulatory process for another Google-backed data center.
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members → flare → center
Days later, voters ousted one of the council members involved, Andy Hjelle.
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voters → oust → members
Two members of Stop the Hermantown Data Center, Emma Richtman and Candi Mock, beat him in a race for two open seats, helped by an 18% increase in voter turnout.
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members → beat → turnout
Faring well in Faribault and Farmington
Farmington’s city council race had 48% more voters than in 2022.
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race → fare → 2022
Along with a robust slate of candidates, a special mayoral election drew people to the polls.
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election → draw → polls
But the sitting council’s data center decisions clearly played an important role, Blomgren said.
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Blomgren → sit → role
He lives about 1,000 feet from where the hyperscale development could be built.
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development → live → ?
There are residents who live much closer.
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who → be → ?
“People built their homes to the west side of the property thinking it would be a golf course or homes,” he said.
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he → build → property
“When you build a home next to a railroad track, you know a railroad track is there.
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track → build → track
You don’t build your home thinking there will be a data center.”
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You → build → home
He isn’t opposed to data centers per se, but said he is against projects of such a massive size receiving selective rezoning near residential neighborhoods.
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he → oppose → neighborhoods
“The scale is really the issue,” he said.
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he → say → ?
A lot of people would be if it were a refinery.”
Even more than Farmington, Faribault had the largest rise in voter turnout among cities linked to data centers.
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Faribault → have → centers
About 61% more votes were cast in the southern Minnesota city this year than in 2022.
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votes → cast → 2022
A deep field of candidates likely contributed to the uptick.
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field → contribute → uptick
Also, none of the six candidates running for three spots expressed support for data centers ahead of the election.
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none → run → election
The top vote-getter, Natalie Halverson, said she thinks opposition to data centers partly explains the huge turnout at polling places.
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opposition → say → places
“It is a big looming issue,” she said.
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she → loom → ?
“People want to know where people stand on that.
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people → want → that
I think it might have driven some people to be a little bit more engaged.”
uncertain
it → think → people
‘A hot-button issue’ among many
The election wasn’t all about data centers, however, she cautioned.
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she → caution → centers
Faribault faces major challenges apart from whether a data center development is worth it, including housing shortages and maintaining healthcare access.
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development → face → access
…and 32 more, not listed.
The Aporia
