(WHTM) – The issue of data centers has become one of the hottest in Pennsylvania’s race for governor, with previous support from Governor Josh Shapiro (D) and Stacy Garrity (R) being drawn into the spotlight.

That includes a new ad from the Pennsylvania Democratic Party highlighting Garrity’s previous support for data centers, as Garrity has sought to tie the deeply unpopular projects to Shapiro.

The 30-second ad highlights several statements Garrity made in recent years, including one during a September 18, 2025, radio interview on 1210 WPHT in Philadelphia with Dom Giordano on data centers’ place in rural communities.

“In very rural Pennsylvania, you know, you have areas that are in the middle of nowhere. What perfect places to put data centers,” Garrity said, adding in the interview that data centers would bring economic opportunities that “rural Pennsylvania largely would welcome” to their communities.

abc27 reached out to Garrity’s campaign on Tuesday afternoon for comment on the ad and did not receive a direct response. That evening, Garrity’s campaign X account appeared to react to the new ad.

“Don’t be fooled. Josh Shapiro was the biggest cheerleader for data center development. He pushed sweetheart deals for out of state developers, and then he took their campaign donations. Your voice is what matters, not Josh Shapiro’s out of state campaign donors. My administration will put your communities first!”

It’s the latest effort by Garrity to tie Shapiro to a deeply unpopular issue.

From May 29 to April 2, Garrity’s campaign X account dedicated six of its eight posts toward targeting Shapiro over data centers, saying he “flip-flopped” on the issue after unveiling a $20 billion Amazon data center deal in 2024 and then moved to unveil new voluntary guidelines for data centers this month.

Garrity’s posts attacking Shapiro also came one day after she announced support for a pause on data center development. She’s also launched a listening tour and proposed restricting data centers to industrial and brownfield sites, while claiming Shapiro “rolled out the red carpet for massive data center projects.”

In response to Garrity’s proposal, Shapiro’s campaign called her a desperate politician and pointed to her previous support of projects coming to the state.

One of the projects Shapiro’s campaign says Garrity supported was the $20 billion investment by Amazon to build two data centers in Pennsylvania.

Governor Josh Shapiro today announced that Amazon is planning to invest at least $20 billion to establish multiple high-tech cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) innovation campuses across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This investment will create at least 1,250 high-paying, high-tech jobs. Salem Township and Falls Township are the first communities identified as sites for these future campuses. Multiple additional Pennsylvania communities are under consideration.

Governor Josh Shapiro today announced that Amazon is planning to invest at least $20 billion to establish multiple high-tech cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) innovation campuses across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This investment will create at least 1,250 high-paying, high-tech jobs. Salem Township and Falls Township are the first communities identified as sites for these future campuses. Multiple additional Pennsylvania communities are under consideration.

Governor Josh Shapiro today announced that Amazon is planning to invest at least $20 billion to establish multiple high-tech cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) innovation campuses across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This investment will create at least 1,250 high-paying, high-tech jobs. Salem Township and Falls Township are the first communities identified as sites for these future campuses. Multiple additional Pennsylvania communities are under consideration.

Governor Josh Shapiro today announced that Amazon is planning to invest at least $20 billion to establish multiple high-tech cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) innovation campuses across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This investment will create at least 1,250 high-paying, high-tech jobs. Salem Township and Falls Township are the first communities identified as sites for these future campuses. Multiple additional Pennsylvania communities are under consideration.

Governor Josh Shapiro today announced that Amazon is planning to invest at least $20 billion to establish multiple high-tech cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) innovation campuses across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This investment will create at least 1,250 high-paying, high-tech jobs. Salem Township and Falls Township are the first communities identified as sites for these future campuses. Multiple additional Pennsylvania communities are under consideration.

Governor Josh Shapiro today announced that Amazon is planning to invest at least $20 billion to establish multiple high-tech cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) innovation campuses across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This investment will create at least 1,250 high-paying, high-tech jobs. Salem Township and Falls Township are the first communities identified as sites for these future campuses. Multiple additional Pennsylvania communities are under consideration.

On June 9, 2025, Shapiro stood with a bipartisan group of state, federal, local, and business leaders saying the Amazon deal would “establish multiple high-tech cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) innovation campuses across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

“Pennsylvania is competing again – and I’m proud to announce that with Amazon’s commitment of at least $20 billion to build new state-of-the-art data center campuses across our Commonwealth, we have secured the largest private sector investment in the history of Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said at the event. “This initial investment from Amazon will create thousands of good-paying, stable jobs as Pennsylvania workers build, maintain, and operate the first two data center campuses in Luzerne County and Bucks County.”

Since then, new questions have arisen in communities regarding how to welcome the economic impacts of data centers while also regulating them, protecting the environment, and keeping energy affordable for voters.

It’s all turned seemingly sweet deals into a sour taste for many Pennsylvania voters and lawmakers leading into the November 10 election.

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