Could a Grassroots Tech Backlash Upend Florida’s Gubernatorial Race?
Patti Zirhut has spent weeks studying her ballot, and for the first time in her life, the lifelong Republican is breaking ranks. Zirhut voted for Donald Trump in 2016, 2020, and 2024, but this election cycle looks entirely different. Her ballot is a mix of Republicans, independents, and even a few Democrats, driven by a single red line she refuses to cross.
“I will not vote for Byron Donalds,” Zirhut told me. “No way will I ever vote for him.”
The source of her fury is straightforward. Donalds, the Republican nominee in Florida’s gubernatorial election, carries the endorsement of Trump, the full backing of the state party, and $148 million in campaign funds, much of it from the tech industry. For Zirhut, an organizer with a group called No Data Center Hernando County, that financial backing is a betrayal. Donalds has been a vocal supporter of the controversial developments, a stance that may now cost him votes, even among members of his own party.
The Divergent Paths of Donalds and Jolly
The fault lines in the gubernatorial race are starkly drawn around the physical footprint of Big Tech. While Donalds has said he wants to make Florida the financial capital of the world and welcome the tech industry—including data center developers—to the Sunshine State, his opponent is capitalizing on the resulting anxiety.
David Jolly, a former Republican who left the party in 2018, is hoping to win over newly disgruntled conservatives by promising to implement a one-year moratorium on data center developments. Aiming to witness firsthand the impact that massive hyperscale data facilities exert on local towns, Jolly recently made a trip to Loudoun County in Virginia, a region also recognized as Data Center Alley. In Jolly’s view, backlash against these digital facilities runs deeper among Republicans than Democrats, stemming from concerns over the outsized power wielded by Big Data and Big Tech amidst widespread public anxiety regarding surveillance—whether through artificial intelligence or encroaching development threatening personal freedom and property.
“In a state like Florida with unlimited money, where people feel like they’ve lost their political and economic power and voice, the deepest-pocketed special interests — be it tech, data, utilities — are able to capture our politicians and decision-making,” Jolly says.
The numbers behind the campaigns reflect an immense imbalance. Jolly has raised $22 million, a fraction of Donalds’ $148 million haul. Leading the Future, a pro-AI super PAC backed by financial contributors including leaders from Palantir, OpenAI, and Andreessen Horowitz, has provided Donalds with $5 million.
Yet money may not insulate the nominee from a disgruntled electorate. A recent survey conducted by the University of North Florida puts Jolly just two points behind Donalds, within the 2.8 percent margin of error. If he wins, Jolly will be the first Democratic governor Florida has elected in 28 years.
Local Resistance in Deep-Red Counties
The friction isn’t confined to Hernando County. Spearheading the pushback in heavily conservative Polk County is Raul Alfonso, who heads Watchdogs of Fort Meade, a grassroots organization currently battling a massive $2.6 billion hyperscale data center project. Alfonso, who voted for Trump in 2016, 2020, and 2024, was a registered independent until this year, when he switched his affiliation to Republican to vote for Bobby Williams in the primary.
Alfonso says his group received a “form letter” from both Donalds and Ron DeSantis, Florida’s current Republican governor, which essentially said they have to trust that local city commissioners and representatives will do the right thing. That hands-off stance has pushed traditionally reliable conservative voters to look elsewhere.
Pointing to his running mate, state Sen. Bryan Ávila, Donalds highlights legislation championed by Ávila targeting new data center initiatives by mandating that they contribute their appropriate portion toward utility and water expenses. Donalds has emphasized that these developments ultimately aren’t the governor’s purview.
“When it comes to data centers and local control, local governments are going to have the final say,” Donalds recently told CBS News. “Governors don’t issue building permits; local governments do. So if a local community does not want a data center, then no data centers.”
Critics remain unconvinced, and the nickname “Data Center Donalds” has stuck. Meanwhile, voters across the political spectrum continue to rank the cost of living as top of mind. For organizers like Zirhut and Alfonso, the battle over server farms is simply the physical manifestation of a broader, systemic anxiety over who actually controls the future of their communities.
