Former Senator Sherrod Brown once supported data center expansion, but now he opposes it as he runs for the Senate again.

In 2015, Brown released a statement celebrating the construction of a new data center in Central Ohio.

Brown said the new data center was good news for the area and showed that it was a great place to do business and live. He also said it was a place where people wanted to raise their families.

Now, Brown says Ohio's data centers are using up the state's resources, which is a change from his previous stance.

Watch a video of a GOP senator talking about a challenger in a critical Senate race.

Senator Sherrod Brown was seen voting in the US Capitol on January 23, 2024.

Brown said in a campaign video that big corporations treat Ohio's electric grid like a game.

He also said that these corporations use a lot of energy for their data centers, which raises prices for everyone else.

Brown was first elected to the Senate in 2006 but lost his seat in 2024. Now, he is trying to win back a Senate seat.

Brown's opponent, Senator Jon Husted, was appointed by the governor to fill a vacant seat.

In the 2026 midterms, Democrats have criticized President Trump for not keeping his promises to lower the cost of living.

Some Democrats, including Brown, have linked data centers to the issue, saying they do not pay for their own costs.

A Fox News poll showed that Democratic unity and Republican crossovers are important in the Ohio Senate race.

Senator Brown spoke to volunteers at a campaign office in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.

There are debates about whether data centers should pay for the costs of their energy consumption.

Brown said he would support a law that makes data centers pay for their own electricity.

Brown promised to make data centers pay the full cost of their electricity, not the public.

Ohio has become an important state for data center companies like Amazon and Google.

In 2013, the state legislature passed a law that gives tax exemptions to data center companies that invest over $100 million.

This law has attracted investment but also cost the state $1.6 billion in lost revenue.

It is unclear if Brown would support other laws to slow down data center development.

A top energy group warned that wealthy foreigners might be funding campaigns against data centers.

Senator Brown spoke at a campaign event in Steubenville, Ohio.

Brown previously said he wanted to help the region's logistics hub grow and create jobs.

His office did not respond to requests for comment about his objections to data centers.

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Brown will face Senator Husted in the general election on November 3.

Leo Briceno is a politics reporter who covers Congress for Fox News Digital.