David Jolly said the vast majority of Floridians oppose new data centers. Polls back that up.

Florida Democratic gubernatorial nominee David Jolly said the vast majority of Floridians are opposed to artificial intelligence data centers being built in the state.

Jolly, who vows to enact a one-year moratorium on Florida data center construction if elected, said during an Aug. 28 news conference, “This is one of those issues where voters are telling us what they want.” 

“I mean, I don’t know the number — 70, 80% of people across Florida are saying ‘don’t build data centers,’ and at some point our jobs as leaders is to listen,” he said.

The midterm election cycle has brought national backlash against AI data center development despite President Donald Trump’s increasingly supportive messaging on their expansion.

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Is Floridians’ opposition as high as Jolly says?

Although researchers warn that public opinion on a burgeoning issue can be a moving target, the most recent polls show surging dissatisfaction with data centers in Florida and beyond. 

Jolly’s campaign pointed PolitiFact to a July University of North Florida poll that found 68% of Floridians surveyed opposed building data centers in their areas. 

Pollsters haven’t been asking people about data centers for very long, said Karlyn Bowman, a public opinion expert and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, but UNF’s findings are in line with national polls that show substantial majorities — 60% and higher — oppose new data centers in their communities. 

“The public seems highly skeptical of them, even when the revenue and progress points are made,” Bowman said.

Data centers can increase local employment and boost local tax revenues, but many Americans are wary of the facilities. Newer AI data centers often consume large amounts of electricity and water, can emit continuous noises and in some cases threaten to drastically change how communities look and operate.

 

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More Floridians oppose new data centers than support them, multiple polls show

The University of North Florida’s nonpartisan Public Opinion Research Lab conducted the poll of 848 likely midterm voters in Florida.

The poll asked: “Supporters cite the need for AI development and opportunity for increased local government revenue, while opponents worry about rising energy costs and environmental impact. Would you support or oppose the building of an AI data center in your local area?”

Nearly 68% of those surveyed said they would oppose it, while 28% said they would support it. 

The university’s researchers noted that respondents, who were also asked their opinions on the increased use of AI, were less concerned with AI technology than with data center development.

“While Floridians are evenly split on their impressions of AI, opposition to the building of data centers is overwhelming,” Sean Freeder, the research lab’s director, wrote in the report’s findings. “Even groups who are positive about the technology don’t want its support infrastructure anywhere near where they live.”

Another poll, released in February by Associated Industries of Florida, a pro-business organization that has represented employer interests in Florida since 1920, asked the question in a different way and received a more favorable response.

Conducted by the Trump-aligned McLaughlin & Associates firm, the poll asked those surveyed if they would support or oppose a new data center “if it lowered local property taxes, boosted local jobs, and kept foreign adversaries’ hands off Americans’ ‘critical data’?” The question did not tell those surveyed about any potential data center drawbacks.

In that survey, 64% of Floridians polled said they would support building data centers.

Other polls’ questions were more clear-cut.

One by the James Madison Institute, a conservative- and libertarian-leaning think tank, surveyed 1,400 Floridians in July. It asked: “Data centers are large facilities that store and process digital information for internet services, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence. Overall, do you support or oppose Florida taking steps to attract data center investment to the state?”

This poll found less objection: 49% of respondents said they either somewhat or strongly oppose data center investment in the state, while 40% said they somewhat or strongly support it.

A different poll by Change Research, a left-of-center company that specializes in online polling, surveyed 2,070 registered Florida voters in May. 

It asked: “Would you support or oppose an artificial intelligence (AI) data center being built in your community?”

Around 79% of respondents said they were against new AI data centers in their communities, Change Research reported, with 14% in support.

Our ruling

Jolly said “70, 80% of people across Florida are saying, ‘Don’t build data centers.'”

Public opinion on data center development is evolving, but Florida polls conducted in the last few months show more Floridians oppose new data centers in their areas than support them, ranging from 49% to 89% in opposition, depending on how the question is phrased. 

Jolly cited a poll that showed 68% opposed.

We rate his statement Mostly True.

PolitiFact Chief Correspondent Louis Jacobson contributed to this report.

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