A new super PAC that champions data center development is spending more than $1.5 million to support Republican state Sen. Ty Masterson in the race for Kansas governor, according to a person familiar with the spending. The details were first shared with NBC News on Monday.
The group, Building the Future, is an offshoot of Leading the Future, a super PAC backed by major figures in artificial intelligence. Leading the Future is arguably the foremost super PAC advancing the industry's interests in the midterm elections.
Building the Future is also active outside Kansas. The New York Times reported earlier Monday that the group plans to spend roughly $1.5 million on advertising to help Republican Sen. Darline Graham in the South Carolina Senate race.
The group's origins go back to August, when Build American AI, a nonprofit in the same network, announced a multimillion-dollar ad campaign in Kansas, Ohio and Wisconsin. The campaign was meant to build support for preferred policies on managing data center growth, and the nonprofit announced the creation of Building the Future at that time. The new political group said it would back candidates who support "responsible policies that strengthen and protect communities, preserve water resources, and prevent rate hikes on electricity bills, while ensuring American leadership in AI and creating good-paying jobs for American workers."
The spending arrives as resistance to data centers has grown for months. The sprawling facilities needed to power the AI boom have become a major issue for voters nationwide.
Kansas is among the few Democratic-controlled governorships that Republicans have a realistic chance of flipping this fall. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the race as leaning Republican. The state also has a competitive Senate contest, pitting Republican Sen. Roger Marshall against Democratic pastor Adam Hamilton.
Masterson's opponent in the governor's race, Holscher, responded with a sharp statement on Monday. She called him a "stooge for Big Tech" who wants "to put a data center on every corner and in every cornfield." She added that he would hand the industry tax breaks while costs rise for ordinary Kansans. "These billionaire CEOs know that I won't do their bidding, and that's why they're spending millions to beat me," she said, promising to keep pushing for guardrails on data centers. Masterson did not immediately comment for the article.
The two candidates' records on the issue overlap in one respect. Masterson has opposed moratoriums and defended a 2025 law he voted for that exempted data center investments from sales tax. Holscher also voted for that law but has since called for a statewide moratorium on such developments.
The issue is also driving the South Carolina Senate race. Graham has described the investments as necessary for national security while voicing support for local control over where facilities are built. Her Democratic opponent, Annie Andrews, has called for a moratorium on new projects and has labeled Graham "Data Center Darline."
