With the midterm elections approaching, data centers have become an increasingly popular political target. Politicians are raising alarms about their impact on communities, with some calling for construction moratoriums or outright bans.

There's been plenty of fearmongering. But the more Americans learn about data centers, and the more communities experience their benefits firsthand, the stronger the case for continued development becomes.

Data centers have existed for decades, but the rapid growth of artificial intelligence has dramatically increased the demand for computing power. Americans understandably have questions about what this development means for electricity prices, water supplies, and their quality of life. Newer facilities are increasingly being designed with technologies that can address these concerns, including closed-loop cooling systems and quieter operations.

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Yet much of the national debate overlooks what data centers are already delivering to communities across America.

Take Ellendale, North Dakota, a town of 1,100 people. Before Applied Digital's new $11 billion data center development, the town collected roughly $400,000 annually in sales taxes. In the first seven months of 2026 alone, that figure jumped to $3.5 million.

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That revenue is helping the city repave its roads and renovate its senior center. A historic opera house is being restored. For a small town, this kind of investment can transform the community for generations.

And Ellendale is far from alone.

Schools across America are seeing enormous benefits from the data center boom.

In Richland Parish, Louisiana, Meta's massive investment has helped fund an increase in annual teacher bonuses ranging from $10,000 to $50,000.

Think about what that means for a working family. Teachers who have dedicated their careers to educating children are receiving a life-changing financial benefit, while the school district becomes an attractive destination for talented educators.

It's hard to imagine a politician campaigning against higher teacher pay or better schools. Yet those are precisely the kinds of benefits communities stand to lose when development gets blocked.

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The benefits extend to homeowners struggling with the rising cost of living.

In Loudoun County, Virginia, data centers generate 45% of county revenue. That enormous tax base has allowed local officials to cut homeowner property tax rates every year for a decade.

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In neighboring Henrico County, local leaders used data center revenue to fund a $60 million Affordable Housing Trust Fund, helping young families and first-time buyers purchase homes.

At a time when housing affordability is dominating political conversations, building data centers is helping some communities make the American Dream a little easier to achieve.

Electricity prices are another major concern, and understandably so. Families are already struggling with higher utility bills, and the arrival of a major new industrial customer can raise legitimate questions about who pays for new infrastructure.

But the enormous, predictable electricity demand from data centers also creates opportunities to finance new generation and grid investments, spreading infrastructure costs across a larger customer base.

In Georgia, agreements involving new large electricity customers, including OpenAI, are projected to lower residential power bills by $180 annually by 2029.

With the right arrangements in place, the arrival of data centers can mean lower costs for the families already living in these communities.

And the benefits extend well beyond tax revenue and household expenses.

Trade unions have been among the most vocal supporters of data centers because of the good-paying jobs they create. Building these facilities requires years of work for skilled tradesmen, with new projects creating opportunities for the next generation of American workers.

In Baltimore, Maryland, IBEW Local 24 expanded its membership by 50% alongside data center construction. In Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, IBEW Local 163 doubled its ranks following construction of an Amazon data center.

Politicians have spent decades promising to bring back good-paying blue-collar jobs. Here is an industry creating enormous demand for exactly those workers.

Of course, developers have a responsibility to work with residents and local governments to address legitimate concerns. Communities deserve clear answers about electricity costs and water use. They should also understand how the investments taking place in their backyards will benefit local families.

But when data centers are developed responsibly, the economic benefits can be enormous. Communities are rebuilding roads and improving schools. Homeowners are seeing lower tax burdens, and skilled workers are finding new opportunities.

For decades, politicians have campaigned on championing the Forgotten Man and bringing economic opportunity back to communities that have struggled to attract investment.

Now, data centers are delivering billions of dollars in private investment to many of those very places.

We're watching a new industrial boom take shape across America, creating jobs and revitalizing communities that Washington has spent decades promising to help. Before politicians rush to stop it, they ought to take a serious look at what those communities are gaining.

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And they should consider what their constituents stand to lose.

Federal agents raided multiple Minnesota autism service providers Thursday in the latest law enforcement action involving a state already under intense scrutiny over allegations of widespread fraud in taxpayer-funded programs.

The FBI confirmed that federal and state agencies were conducting "court-authorized investigative activity" at multiple locations across Minnesota, including sites in the Twin Cities and Rochester, according to MPR News. Meanwhile, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison's office also confirmed that its Medicaid Fraud Control Unit executed search warrants at Iska Inc. in St. Louis Park and Bright Horizon Therapy in Edina, both of which provide autism-related or other Medicaid-funded services.

The operation involved the FBI, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, IRS criminal investigators, U.S. Postal Inspectors and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, according to FOX 9 Minneapolis.

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"This is an active investigation, and no further details are available at this time," FBI Minneapolis spokesperson Matt Vogel told MPR News.

Iska Inc. received more than $16.7 million in Medicaid payments between 2018 and 2025, according to state data reviewed by the Minnesota Star Tribune. The business participated in Minnesota's Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention program, which provides services to children and young people with autism and has faced increasing scrutiny over fraud allegations.

The latest searches follow a series of enforcement operations targeting suspected fraud in Minnesota's publicly funded programs. In April, federal and state investigators executed 22 search warrants in Minnesota, including at autism service providers and childcare businesses.

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The Justice Department also announced charges against 15 defendants in May in connection with alleged health care fraud schemes involving more than $90 million in intended losses. The cases included an alleged $46.6 million scheme targeting Minnesota's autism intervention program, which DOJ said saw Medicaid claims surge from more than $600,000 in 2018 to more than $400 million by 2025.

The raids come ahead of Vice President JD Vance's planned visit to Minnesota — alongside members of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud — where allegations of public-services fraud have fueled growing questions about oversight. 

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Officials have not announced charges related to Thursday's searches, and the allegations against any individual business remain unproven.

Maine high school girls will speak publicly about competing against transgender athletes Monday as parents prepare to submit nearly 5,000 additional signatures in a renewed effort to put restrictions on girls’ sports and school facilities before voters.

The Nov. 2 news conference in Augusta comes one day before Maine’s closely watched Senate election, bringing renewed attention to the issue that triggered a confrontation between President Donald Trump and Democratic Gov. Janet Mills in early 2025.

The Protect Girls Sports in Maine ballot committee is seeking a place on the 2027 ballot, after its earlier petition fell 532 valid signatures short of qualifying for this year’s election.

Two female athletes from Windham High School and Fryeburg Academy are scheduled to participate alongside parents, representatives of Alliance Defending Freedom and the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, known as ICONS.

"It’s appalling and shameful what these girls and hundreds of others have endured in Maine, and we are so glad they reached out for support," ICONS co-founder Kim Jones said in a statement ahead of the event. "Their stories are a historical dark mark on Maine’s treatment of its women and girls."

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"We are proud to stand alongside these young female athletes and their families to unapologetically say that women and girls deserve fair and safe sports, as well as privacy and dignity in places of undress," Jones continued. "There should be no male students on girls’ teams, and no male students in girls’ restrooms and locker rooms."

The initiative, "An Act to Designate School Sports Participation and Facilities by Sex," would establish requirements based on students’ sex as recorded on their original birth certificates for participation in designated school sports and access to bathrooms and other private spaces. It would also allow students to sue schools over violations.

Leyland Streiff, the ballot committee’s principal officer and a leader of Maine Girl Dads, said approximately 100 volunteers collected the additional signatures over the past month.

"Despite needing only 532 more signatures to make the 2027 ballot, the committee is submitting almost 5,000," Streiff said in the event announcement.

The signatures would still require review before the initiative could qualify.

The renewed push follows months of litigation over the original petition. According to Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court, organizers submitted 79,692 signatures in February, and election officials initially determined that enough were valid to move the proposal forward.

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A subsequent challenge resulted in a revised determination leaving the petition below the required 67,682 valid signatures. The dispute included 1,520 signatures collected by four nonresident circulators who had not timely consented to Maine courts’ jurisdiction. The state’s highest court upheld their invalidation July 10.

Organizers say they pursued a federal court challenge while collecting additional signatures to advance the initiative for 2027.

Retired professional soccer player Carly Smolak, who will appear with ICONS, said the effort concerns recognition of female athletes’ accomplishments.

"I am honored to stand beside these courageous soccer players to stand up for the right of every female athlete in Maine to know that her hard work, dedication and accomplishments will be honored and recognized, not overshadowed," Smolak said in the announcement.

The event returns attention to a debate that put Maine at the center of national scrutiny in February 2025, when a transgender Greely High School athlete won the girls’ Class B indoor pole-vault championship. Greely won the girls’ team championship by one point.

On Feb. 21, Trump confronted Mills at a White House governors’ event over Maine’s refusal to follow his executive order barring transgender athletes from female sports. Trump threatened to withhold federal funding, while Mills said she would follow state and federal law.

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"See you in court," Mills told him. The Maine Principals’ Association maintained that its participation policy followed the Maine Human Rights Act, which protects against discrimination based on gender identity.

Mills defended her response as a stand against presidential overreach, arguing that Trump could not withhold congressionally appropriated funding to force the state to comply with his demands.

Now, the renewed ballot effort coincides with a Senate contest featuring candidates with differing records on transgender participation in sports.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins faces Democratic former state Senate President Troy Jackson in the Nov. 3, 2026, election, a race that could help determine control of the Senate.

Collins voted in March 2025 to advance the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. Explaining her support for a similar amendment in March 2026, she said her longstanding position was that "transgender athletes should not compete in girls’ and women’s athletics."

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Jackson voted in June 2023 to accept a committee recommendation against passing LD 930, legislation seeking to restrict participation in women’s and girls’ scholastic sports. In an April 2026 questionnaire during his gubernatorial campaign, he also answered "No" to a question asking whether he supported a transgender sports ban and dismantling other protections under the Maine Human Rights Act.

Jones said advocates intend to continue pressing the issue through elections and other avenues.

"The feelings of boys do not take precedence in the areas and opportunities set aside to let girls thrive," she said. "An ever-growing wave of public support exists to ensure that girls in blue states have a light at the end of the tunnel."

"The men who want to protect their daughters, the young female athletes, and the public are not going to let up," Jones continued. "The courts, the voting booth, the media and every other available tool will be used to ensure that these girls are not shoved into the shadows to be harassed and ignored."

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The news conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. Eastern on Monday, Nov. 2, at the Capitol Building’s Welcome Center in Augusta, with a short question-and-answer session following prepared remarks.