Where Michigan gubernatorial candidates stand on data centers

Data centers have emerged as a hot-button political issue in Michigan as the industry pushes proposed developments across the state
Jocelyn Benson’s husband works for the developer of Michigan’s first planned hyperscale data center
Here’s where nine gubernatorial candidates stand

Michigan’s data center debate has collided squarely with the state’s gubernatorial race as candidates stake positions on the controversial issue.

It may be a sensitive subject for Jocelyn Benson, the leading Democratic candidate, whose husband, Ryan Friedrichs, is a vice president of the company behind Michigan’s first approved hyperscale data center project in Saline Township.

After conservative news outlet The Midwesterner reported on Friedrichs’ leadership role at Related Companies – whose subsidiary, Related Digital, is developing the Saline Township site — both the Benson campaign and Related said Friedrichs would recuse himself from projects before the state if she is elected.

In a statement to Bridge Michigan, Benson spokesperson Alyssa Bradley called Benson “the most transparent Secretary of State in our history” and reiterated that Friedrichs “would of course not be involved with any future State of Michigan affiliated development projects” if Benson becomes governor.

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Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who is running as an independent, and Republican US Rep. John James, of Shelby Township, have also waded into Michigan’s data center debate as a growing number of communities mobilize against proposed projects.

Meanwhile, Republican candidates Tom Leonard and Anthony Hudson have made opposition to the facilities a central tenet of their campaigns, traveling across the state to weigh in on local data center deliberations.

More than 130 readers have mentioned data centers as a top issue in Bridge Listens, an unscientific survey about what Michiganders want 2026 Michigan candidates to address.

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Below is a look at where several of the candidates stand. Also running for governor are Democrats Kevin Hogan and Marni Sawicki and Republicans Joyce Gipson, Ralph Rebandt and Evan Space.

Jocelyn Benson

Benson spokesperson Bradley touted data center investment as “a great thing for our people and our economy,” but said Benson believes Michigan needs to enact policies and guidelines ensuring the facilities use “the latest technology to limit water usage” and sign power contracts that “drive down energy costs.”
During a December campaign event in Midland, Benson went further, vowing to ban data centers that use the state’s water and raise electricity costs.

“Michigan has got to be on the side of making sure if we move in this direction, that data centers come to Michigan only if they can improve and deliver prosperity, well-paying union jobs and affordability, low energy costs for our residents,” Benson said in a Jan. 8 interview on radio station WJR.

Her husband, Friedrichs, conducted public engagement for Related as it pursued the Saline Township project. Formerly a registered lobbyist for the company, state records show he terminated his license in May.

Mike Cox

The Republican former Michigan attorney general told Bridge Michigan he wants to keep data center permitting in the hands of local governments while requiring developers to build their own power plants and install the “best available technology,” including closed-loop cooling systems that use less water.

“My position is simple: clear standards, local control, no special treatment, and projects must benefit Michigan families, not burden them,” Cox said in an emailed statement.

On the subject of tax breaks for data center developers, Cox said Michigan should “honor existing commitments” but that, in general, he favors lower taxes across the board, rather than “narrow, special-purpose deals that reward lobbying more than real value-creation.”

Mike Duggan

Duggan favors a statewide siting standard for data centers, which are currently approved through local zoning decisions.

That single standard would come with requirements, said Duggan spokesperson Andrea Bitely, including sustainable water management, protections against electricity rate increases caused by data centers, and assurances that local communities’ concerns are “effectively addressed.”

“The chaos Michigan is now experiencing from 17 proposed data centers from Saline to Washington Township, to Bay City to Lowell is because each project is being handled as a one-off decision, instead of operating under a uniform statewide set of standards,” Bitely said.

Bitely called data centers “vital for Michigan to get the jobs of the future,” and said the state is behind in securing those jobs. Unlike its Great Lakes neighbors, Michigan has no hyperscale data centers, though that is poised to change after the Saline Township proposal won key state and local approvals.

In an interview with BridgeDetroit, Duggan vowed that, if elected, “my team will be sitting with neighbors saying, ‘Let’s develop this in a way that your community can support.’”

Anthony Hudson

Hudson told Bridge he’s visited 17 town halls over the past few months to oppose the proliferation of data centers.

“I don’t want to see any data centers taking up our farmland here in Michigan. That’s a hard no for me,” he said. “If I’m elected governor, I will shut down the progression of these data center proposals all across our state. What we have is enough.”

Hudson said he rejects any tax breaks that support a “multibillion dollar industry” like data centers: “They have the money to come here and pay their taxes like anyone else.”

John James

A James campaign spokesperson did not answer questions from Bridge Michigan about James’ stance on data centers, but directed the reporter to a video on the social media platform X in which James called the state’s approach to data centers “crazy.”

James called for “transparency and local control by default,” while endorsing guardrails to make sure data centers don’t raise power rates, make efforts to build on blighted industrial sites rather than farmland and provide assurances that tax benefits go to local communities.

Beyond that, he called for repealing Michigan’s clean energy law and “top to bottom” reform of the Michigan Economic Development Corp., which administers the state economic development initiatives including tax breaks for data centers.

“We have to diversify Michigan’s economy,” James said. “Data centers are just one tool, but they’re not the whole plan.”

Perry Johnson

Citing high energy prices, Johnson said communities “cannot afford the pressures of massive data centers.”

The Bloomfield Hills businessman, who launched his second bid to be Michigan’s governor last week, is calling for the removal of local government non-disclosure agreements and a “skeptical eye” towards data center proposals.

“Part of my plan to bring efficiency and quality to state government is to end the massive tax break that wealthy out of state data center companies currently receive and instead eliminate the Michigan income tax to return money into the pocketbooks of struggling Michigan families,” Johnson said in an emailed statement.

Tom Leonard

Leonard has staked much of his campaign on data center opposition.

“Anybody on the ballot in 2026 better take note of this issue,” he said, “because people are fed up.”

Leonard wants to repeal Michigan’s data center tax breaks, impose a yearlong statewide moratorium on data center development and reform the state body that regulates utilities as they ink lucrative data center electricity contracts. He also wants to ban officials from signing nondisclosure agreements pertaining to data center projects and “make 100% certain” the facilities won’t drive up energy costs or threaten water resources.

Leonard has criticized Michigan’s clean energy law, saying he fears utilities will be forced to build renewable energy arrays to meet spiking data center demand.

“I don’t want to live in a state that’s full of data centers and solar farms,” he said. “And I know many of the people that I’m talking to, they don’t either.”

Aric Nesbitt

The Republican state Senate minority leader said Michigan needs to be “a leader in AI,” but added that “we’re not going to do it at taxpayers’ expense.”

He voted against Michigan’s 2024 data center tax break bills and said heopposes offering government subsidies for data centers, calling it “corporate welfare.”

Nesbitt also said he favors local control over data center permitting, requirements for data centers to build their own power supplies and feed any excess energy back into the grid and requirements for data centers be American-owned.

“Data centers can have a place in Michigan’s future; provided they meet airtight conditions to protect our residents, lower the cost of energy for everybody, lower property taxes for Michigan families, and protect our natural beauty,” Nesbitt said. “If we do it right, we’ll not only be a leader in innovation — we’ll be helping our families MAKE IT in Michigan with lower taxes and energy costs.”

Chris Swanson

Swanson noted that corporations like data centers should pay for the “investment of infrastructure necessary to sustain their operations” amid high electric and water bills.

“Michigan is an attractive location for companies to locate, and while the advancement of bringing good paying jobs to our area should be a priority, this should not come at the expense of our residents,” Swanson said in an emailed statement.

The Democratic Genesee County sheriff supports tax credits and incentives for corporations on a “needs-based” basis and the implementation of corporate-funded “built-in escrow” accounts to protect community resources against project abandonment.

“It is never good government to exclude local voices, and it’s critical that Michigan ratepayers be held harmless by large corporations, especially multi-billion-dollar conglomerates,” he said. “This is especially true of data centers.”

Karla Wagner

In a Facebook video, Wagner rolled data centers in with wind and solar farms and battery storage facilities and questioned the value they’ll add to Michigan and Michiganders.

“It’s not because we need data centers, because we don’t,” she said in the video. “I don’t think there’s a whole lot of jobs when it comes to these data centers and I think they take up a whole lot of land. They pollute the land. They pollute the air. And they suck up a lot of our fresh water.”

She vowed that, as governor, should eliminate tax breaks and subsidies for such facilities.