Politics and views in the United States

Darline Graham holds a slim lead in a crowded South Carolina primary. Data centers are playing a growing role in politics at all levels and a new poll finds Americans are concerned about democracy and election security.

Transcript

Welcome to 2026 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

I've worked for 30 years for the state of South Carolina.

I ran a state agency.

I turned it from a struggling agency into a national model.

I think that's great experience to bring to the table.

South Carolina Republican Darlene Graham is trying to reassure voters while running for a full Senate term.

Since being named to fill the seat of her brother, Lindsey, after his sudden death last month, she voted to confirm Todd Blanche as the next attorney general and introduced a Russia sanctions bill named for her brother.

She's been endorsed by President Donald Trump and narrowly led the crowded and volatile primary field but faces a runoff against Representative Ralph Norman.

Data centers are becoming a deciding election issue at all levels.

Two rural Texas county officials, Caldwell County Judge Hoppy Hayden and Guadalupe County Judge Kyle Kuchar, are under scrutiny for secret business dealings with the companies.

Kay Weinberg with the Caldwell Data Center action team says that tends to make residents feel cynical.

In terms of what the infrastructure does in the long term to communities, and what it does to property values, health, cost of living, it's unpopular.

People don't want it, and so they have to sneak these things through behind the scenes.

If they ask the community's input, then these projects wouldn't be going through.

One recent poll found more than two-thirds of Florida voters oppose local data center development, and dozens of counties have passed moratoriums or bans.

The state has encouraged their rapid growth, fueled by AI and the state's abundant resources, But lawmakers recently enacted a law giving local governments more authority over their planning.

Brooke Alexander-Goss with the Sierra Club Florida chapter says that acknowledges the growing divide between ordinary people and the big players.

I think people are really starting to figure out that when a proposal is being presented by a developer, they tend to talk about, oh, it's going to create so many jobs.

And I think communities are catching on to the fact that those jobs are very temporary.

Surveys confirm large shares of Americans oppose a data center being built within three miles of their homes.

New York is the only state with a moratorium on them, but 14 states have considered similar legislation, and more than 500 municipalities have blocked or restricted their development.

A big issue to New York is the vast power they require.

Nearly 40 data centers have told the operator of the state's electric grid they want to connect, but they need close to 12,000 megawatts of electricity, double the demand of all homes in the state combined.

In the lead up to the midterms, public news service is highlighting important polls and the people they represent.

A new Gallup-Charles F.

Kettering Foundation poll finds Americans are concerned about election integrity and democratic processes.

Two-thirds say they're worried political leaders will pressure election officials to change election outcomes, and more than half say they're concerned about attempts to discourage or intimidate voters at polling sites.

Derek Barker with the Charles F.

Kettering Foundation calls those findings very serious.

If large numbers of people start to doubt this fundamental process, you could see authoritarianism, political violence become more acceptable.

So we think this is a warning sign.

I'm Edwin J. Viera for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.