Could data center backlash flip Florida?
Patti Zirhut, a lifelong Republican, has been studying her ballot for weeks. Zirhut eagerly voted for President Donald Trump in 2016, 2020, and 2024, but she isn’t toeing the party line this year. “My ballot is all mixed up,” she says. She’s voting for some Republicans, some independents, and even a few Democrats. Zirhut remains undecided on a few races, but of one thing she is absolutely certain: “I will not vote for Byron Donalds,” she tells me. “No way will I ever vote for him.”
Donalds, the Republican nominee in Florida’s gubernatorial election, has Trump’s endorsement, the party’s backing, and $148 million in campaign funds, much of it from the tech industry. It’s this latest point that particularly rankles Zirhut, an organizer with a group called No Data Center Hernando County, whose purpose is summed up in its name. Donalds has been a vocal supporter of the controversial developments...
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