Rural voters may not stop the spread of data centers, but they could stop Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
The Republican is bleeding support from small towns as he seeks a fourth term because of two late-emerging issues: power-hungry tech campuses and a planned $33 billion electric transmission build-out.
Pushback against Abbott points to larger fears about losing rural identities, but also to everyday concerns about construction, pollution and tight supplies of water and electricity. Shawn Nanny, a Republican county commissioner in West Texas, said data centers and power line plans are the “straws that broke the camel’s back” when it comes to Abbott and other Texas GOP leaders.
Some longtime conservatives are now considering the unthinkable — voting in November for a Democrat to be Texas’ next governor. And Abbott’s August directive to pause Texas data center grid approvals hasn’t convinced all of them to vote for him.
“They understand the repercussions of that, but you know what I’m hearing is, ‘Yeah, we’ll have a Democrat in there and grit our teeth and bear it, but hopefully we’ll come out of it the following election,’” said Nanny, who lives in Tom Green County. “They’re so upset; they just want [Abbott] out.”
The welcoming approach that Abbott’s Texas has taken toward data centers until now makes the rural pushback — and the governor’s retreat — particularly striking as the industry grapples with resistance nationwide.
“Rural people feel like they are the ones seeing the brunt of this, and they don’t like it,” said Jim Henson, executive director of the Texas Politics Project. “These issues are starting to bond together a lot of the people against data centers.”
[…]
Numerous conservative voters in sparsely populated areas said in interviews they feel like Abbott and state Republican lawmakers from larger cities have been over eager to support business and infrastructure build-outs that threaten their way of life.
And activists across the political spectrum bemoan state lawmakers’ actions to strip counties and municipalities of authority — so much so that in most unincorporated areas, Texas counties can only regulate data centers’ drainage plans, floodway construction, septic tanks and driveway permits.
Rural residents say there’s a growing tension between Abbott’s push to support the “Texas economic miracle” by enticing big business to less populated areas and the state’s long-standing ranching and agricultural traditions.
“It feels like an attack on a culture, a way of life, because now I think rural Texas is feeling like ‘Okay, now they want us, but don’t want our culture — they want our resources,’” said Suzanne Bellsnyder, an Abbott campaign field director in 2014 who now runs the Texas Rural Reporter website.
Democrats, including [Gina] Hinojosa, have been leaning into rural voters’ antipathy, as have some Republicans. They say rural Texans’ concerns are being ignored for the sake of business interests.
Hinojosa on Tuesday unveiled a new campaign ad targeting “Abbott Intelligence” in rural markets.
“I’ve spent this campaign crossing Texas, and everywhere I go, rural voters tell me Greg Abbott stopped listening to them years ago,” Hinojosa said last week in a statement. “As governor, I’ll fight to put the people of Texas first, not the billionaire class.”
[…]
Many of [Hood County resident Mary Jo] Bloomquist’s friends told her they aren’t sure what to do at the ballot box. Maybe they’ll abstain from voting in the governor’s race altogether, or maybe they’ll vote for another candidate.
Bloomquist, who couldn’t recall ever voting for a Democrat, said she wouldn’t vote for Abbott again.
“He sold Texans out to big business, and I just don’t trust him anymore,” Bloomquist said.
See here for the previous entry in this genre. The irony of the Republican war on local control, which was squarely aimed at bringing big blue cities to heel, coming back to bite them on the ass because of data centers, is so rich that I might overdose. I know, I know, Lucy and the football and all that, but this is what is before our eyes. It’s fine to be wary, but let’s not be doomers.
Three things to add: One is Greg Abbott facing the press, to try and explain himself to a non-suckup audience. He just never does that under normal circumstances, which tells you how much he’d feeling the heat. And also how out of touch he is with normal people.
Two:
This interview of Gov. Abbott on ABC is remarkable. Asked about affordability, he repeatedly talks about skyrocketing property taxes – happening on his watch – and Abbott maintains gas prices *should be below $2 a gallon* by the end of summer.
Write that down.— Scott Braddock (@scottbraddock) 10:11 AM – 23 August 2026
I’m sure he’ll deny he ever said it, tape or no tape.
And three, here’s a headline for you: Rural and suburban voters haven’t looked this Democratic since 2018. That was a pretty good year, as I recall.
I’ll believe that rural voters turn Texas blue as soon as Hispanic voters do. Right, Gilberto Hinojosa?
This is like nuclear fusion power or actual AI; just around the corner.