Democrat Bob Harvie’s first general-election ad in his campaign against Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick is calling for a data center moratorium, the latest sign artificial intelligence is emerging as a key midterm campaign issue.
“I’m Bob Harvie, I approve this message because I don’t want more data centers, I want a moratorium,” the Bucks County commissioner says in the 30-second ad. “Big Tech owns enough, they shouldn’t own our congressman, too.”
While Democrats have routinely attacked Republicans in recent months for encouraging the buildout of AI infrastructure, few frontline candidates have gone as far as Harvie in calling for an outright halt.
A spokesperson for Harvie said he supports a moratorium for one year or until Congress can pass federal regulations protecting affected communities. Pennsylvania is a hot spot for proposed data center construction, and Harvie is proposing to go beyond Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s recent executive order tightening restrictions on data center projects.
Fitzpatrick, a five-term moderate incumbent, is one of three House Republicans who won a seat that Vice President Kamala Harris carried in the 2024 presidential election, making him a top target for Democrats this cycle.
Fitzpatrick has tried to strike a middle path on AI, saying in a post on X last month that he would work to ensure America “can innovate without compromising our communities.” He supports the Ratepayer Protection Act, a bipartisan bill that seeks to address rising electricity costs associated with data centers.
Harvie hits Fitzpatrick in the ad for taking money from tech industry players and voting for “billions in data center tax breaks” — a reference to tax provision in Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Fitzpatrick did not vote for its final passage but did vote to advance the measure at key junctures.
