MASON, Mich. — Opposition to a proposed Michigan data center has become a defining issue in a closely watched House contest, drawing together voters across party lines and reshaping the race in a swing district.
Outside a tense Mason City Council meeting this week, Republicans Emerson Hyde and Dan Ewart wrestled with the unlikely reality that the most visible ally against a potential artificial intelligence data facility is the local Democratic congressional candidate, Will Lawrence.
Hyde, 70, a farmer and former construction worker, said he is backing Lawrence, 36, over incumbent Rep. Tom Barrett, a Republican who has not taken a hard line against the Mason project. “He’s been out to my house several times,” Hyde said.
Ewart, 43, who also opposes the project, reacted with surprise. Republicans have portrayed Lawrence as far left, citing his past statements calling for ending fossil fuels, defunding the police, and maintaining open borders. “Lawrence has said a lot of crazy stuff,” Ewart said. “I don’t trust him.” Hyde replied, “Right now, what’s a bigger fight — a data center or socialism?”
The data center battle illustrates how Lawrence is seeking to overturn expectations in Michigan’s evenly divided 7th Congressional District by tapping anxieties over the rapid advance of artificial intelligence. That unease has bridged ideological divides and created space for progressive Democrats like Lawrence who argue that an outsider, anticorporate posture can resonate beyond the party’s center.
Lawrence has broadened his critique to the wider AI sector, urging a pause in AI development amid warnings from some technologists that the technology could pose existential risks. “We need to put a stop to this, because right now the whole thing is out of control and alarm bells are going off,” he said at a press event where he also called for halting new data center construction.
A co-founder of the Sunrise Movement, Lawrence differs from the moderates who typically prevail in the district. The prior Democrat to represent the seat, Elissa Slotkin, is now a U.S. senator known for a centrist profile. Lawrence once wrote online that moderate Democrats should “hurry up and die.”
Barrett, who is seeking a second term, argued Lawrence is emphasizing data centers to distract from prior positions on policing and immigration. Lawrence rejected that, saying he has protested the projects since last fall when multiple sites were floated in the district and statewide. “I’m talking about it because I give a damn about the people of this district,” he said. “My whole career is about fighting back against corporate power, standing with regular working people who are getting screwed over.”
Lawrence says he has moved on from several earlier stances and posts, including defunding the police and open borders, describing some of it as “performance.” He no longer identifies as a socialist and allowed his Democratic Socialists of America membership to lapse this summer. His campaign said he was not present when the Lansing chapter was founded, reportedly in the living room of the building where he lived after college.
Some Republicans celebrated Lawrence’s August primary win over more traditional Democrats. “We think it’s a comical mistake by the Democratic establishment to let somebody like him slip through,” said Ty Bommarito, chair of the Michigan College Republicans and a senior at Michigan State University in Lawrence’s hometown of East Lansing.
Others cautioned against underestimating him. Lawrence gained traction in the primary with relentless retail politicking across a district that runs from the outer reaches of metro Detroit to farm towns west of Lansing, and he has maintained that tempo into the general election. “There’s more energy in this Lawrence campaign than I’ve seen for a very, very long time,” said Lingg Brewer, an 81-year-old former Democratic state lawmaker. “The excitement in this town I think equals that for Obama when he first ran.”
While Lawrence has spent time on Michigan State’s campus, he has also become a fixture at meetings of residents, often farmers and rural homeowners, fighting data center proposals. Water-rich Michigan saw a surge of potential projects over the last year, a trend initially welcomed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Michigan data center debate draws unusual alliances
On the night of the Mason council session, Lawrence skipped a separate township meeting on the other side of the district to oppose a different project. He wore a red cap reading “No Data Centers in Mason,” a visual echo of former President Donald Trump’s campaign hats, matching caps that dotted the standing-room crowd.
Lawrence’s consistent opposition has earned him unexpected backers in the city of about 8,000. “I’m sure I disagree with a whole lot of his policies,” said Zach Bartels, 48, who called himself a conservative-leaning independent. “But right now I’m kind of a one-issue voter.”
Patrick Lind, 51, who typically votes Republican, said the partisan lens may matter less than the local project. “The partisan issue is going to be a lot less important than the data center issue,” he said.
Ashley Wickham, 38, said she had not engaged in politics before and had never voted in a congressional primary until last month’s open primary. She cast a ballot for Lawrence, noting he has attended nearly every anti–data center event over the past year. “I’m definitely going to support him, because he supported me,” said Wickham, who bought a home in Mason shortly before the potential project surfaced last November.
At that time, city officials said no formal proposal had been submitted, but disclosed talks to annex 405 adjacent acres for a possible $1 billion hyperscale facility. The discussions ignited sustained backlash.
At the meeting, Lawrence criticized council members as they listened through dozens of public comments. He pointed to warnings from inside the industry about catastrophic AI risks. “They say there’s a significant chance that all human beings may be killed by what they’re building — what they want to build in Mason,” he said, urging the council to reject the project.
Lawrence also faulted Barrett for accepting contributions from technology companies and for voting last year for an earlier version of a tax-and-budget bill backed by former President Trump that would have barred states from regulating AI for a decade. That provision was later stripped from the final measure.
A representative from Barrett’s office read a statement from the congressman, who was in Washington and did not attend. Barrett reiterated that decisions on data centers should be left to local authorities, not Washington. In an interview, the 22-year Army veteran said he favors guardrails on AI and has proposed legislation to prohibit its use on the battlefield.
Outside the council chambers, Ewart said he has urged Barrett to more forcefully oppose the Mason project and warned him that local frustration is growing. Ewart, who narrowly lost a Republican primary for a state legislative seat, cautioned voters against supporting Lawrence despite their concerns about data centers. “The question is how fast the socialism comes in,” he said.
The debate over whether to urge a pause in AI development has increasingly moved from tech circles into local politics, reshaping races like this one in Michigan.