Democratic congressional candidate Bob Harvie went on the record today in his first TV campaign ad calling for a data center moratorium.
Harvie is facing off against Republican incumbent Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick to represent Pennsylvania’s first congressional district, made up of Bucks County and a sliver of western Montgomery County.
House Majority PAC calls the race in PA-01 a “statistical tie” ahead of the November election, though Fitzpatrick has a massive fundraising advantage thanks in large part to corporate donors.
READ: In a Divided America, the Left and Right Unite to Oppose AI Data Centers
In his ad, Harvie called out Big Tech’s increasing ownership over our lives and communities and said corporate interests should not “own our congressman, too.”
Harvie hits Fitzpatrick for taking money from tech industry players and voting for “billions in data center tax breaks” — a reference to tax provisions in Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
“Big Tech is taking over our lives, and they want more, grabbing our land, water, electricity and sticking us with the bill. Brian Fitzpatrick voted for $20 billion in data center giveaways and made it impossible for communities like ours to stop new data centers. I don’t want any new data centers; I want a moratorium,” Harvie said in the television ad.
Fitzpatrick said he “was proud to support” Amazon’s efforts to build a massive 1-million-square foot data center in Falls Township, a process local residents have said they were “left in the dark” about and involved little to no community input.
Harvie, a Bucks County Commissioner, is the first Pennsylvania candidate running in a competitive Pennsylvania congressional race to go on the record and explicitly call for a halt to data center construction, according to his campaign.
READ: Bucks County Is the Newest Frontier in the Data Center Boom. Buyer Beware
For most of the past two decades the seat has been held by a Fitzpatrick family member. Fitzpatrick however has been listed among the most vulnerable Republicans in November’s upcoming midterm elections as a result of nationwide discontent over Trump and GOP’s agenda these past two years.
Harvie’s campaign said his proposal would include either a one year moratorium or until the government can pass federal regulations on data center development that can effectively protect local communities.
“Congress could be providing leadership on this issue, but they are not, they are choosing to cancel work days instead of fighting for us,” said Harvie’s Campaign Manager Dan McCormick in a phone interview.
In his role as county commissioner, Harvie directed the Bucks County Planning Commission to write zoning law guidance aiming to help local boroughs and municipalities craft their own tighter protections from data center development.
“I don’t want more reckless data center development, I want a moratorium,” Harvie said. “Pennsylvania working families should not have to pay higher electric bills so massive corporations can make a profit. Before we approve another data center, we need to know energy costs won’t be passed on to our communities, how much water and electricity it would consume, and how many long term local jobs it will create.”
