Katie Muth isn’t running for governor, but she’s the strongest write-in candidate for the job in Pennsylvania history.

The Democratic state senator representing parts of Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties was on the stump in Throop on Thursday night, headlining a “community conversation” on invasive hyperscale data center development at the Mid Valley Secondary Center.

About 175 citizens from across Lackawanna County attended the event, organized by Throop native Heather Luklanchuk and the nonprofit NEPA Stands Up. Muth’s bold opposition to industrial exploitation and her introduction of a Senate bill requiring a three-year moratorium on data center development in Pennsylvania made her a hero to the statewide data center resistance.

Incumbent Gov. Josh Shapiro is the state’s top Democrat and will almost certainly win a second term on Nov. 3, but a growing grassroots movement to write in Muth could prove to be another embarrassing public rebuke to Shapiro’s earnest early advocacy for data centers and put a dent in his presidential aspirations.

Muth is not shy about her disappointment in Shapiro’s erratic, insufficient leadership on the issue, which is emulated by too many of her colleagues in the Legislature.

“I work with a lot of thin-skinned people,” Muth said. “They do not like to be called out for anything, and you all are doing what the public should do — holding the government accountable. And that is a hard job, and I express endless gratitude, because if you don’t do it, who will?”

Muth’s Throop visit came a day after the Texas-based developer behind Project Gravity hosted a “community information session” at the Archbald Borough Building. Corscale Data Centers invited the public to enjoy Old Forge-style pizza, personal-size stromboli, porketta mini-hoagies and other “ethnic, working class fare” while digesting Corscale’s plans to build seven data centers — each with a 138,000-square-foot footprint — across 180-plus acres between Eynon Jermyn Road and Business Route 6.

Most who accepted Corscale’s invitation rejected the spread as strongly as they oppose the project. Some supporters did show up, mostly local business types networking with industry reps. Despite the well-documented public opposition, there are many who still see invasive data center development as inevitable. If these things are going to be built, they want their piece of the porketta.

Lackawanna County Commissioner Bill Gaughan hopes they choke on it. (I’m paraphrasing. The commissioner does not advocate choking.) The featured speaker at the NEPA Stands Up event, Gaughan promised to be brief. He was not. The crowd didn’t hold it against him.

“If there’s one thing that I’ve heard from people, it is that they think the fix is in, they think the deal is done, and there’s nothing that we can do (to stop invasive data center development),” Gaughan said. “I can tell you from the bottom of my heart, it is not over yet.”

Also a Democrat, Gaughan noted that the “top dog” of his party was brought to heel when Archbald yanked his leash.

“We, like other places in the state and the country, because of all that you’ve done, the fact that you’re here tonight and packing these conditional use hearings, you are the reason that we still can defeat this,” he said. “We’ve gotten the attention of some of the highest levels of government.

“Governor Shapiro clearly heard from Archbald and the Midvalley, because he did a total 180 on his position, and the only reason that the politicians are making these 180s is because you are making your voice heard, and we need to continue to do that even when the election is over.”

Back to the Corscale cotillion for a bit of housekeeping. Project Gravity spokesman Max Hamel took exception to my Wednesday column, in which I opined that the event was apparently organized in response to harsh public criticism of the project at the previous week’s planning commission meeting. Not so, he insisted. Project Gravity booked the space on Oct. 5, prior to the planning commission meeting. He produced a receipt documenting the reservation.

The rental cost the developer $810. The untouched ethnic, working-class fare probably cost more. If not, I bet Hamel has receipts.

Corscale is a professional outfit with documented experience building data centers and selling its projects to prospective neighbors. Project Gravity is determined to build in Archbald, with or without public support.

The developer is also terminally late in starting its charm offensive. Over the past year, Project Gravity surrendered the public relations space to inexperienced pretenders who demolished any chance of winning over the public. Somehow, it took until now to invite the neighbors over for pizza.

Most of the neighbors at the NEPA Stands Up event hailed from Archbald, but it also drew residents of Olyphant, Jessup, Dickson City, Throop, Old Forge, Ransom Twp., Scott Twp., Moosic, and Wayne and Luzerne counties. Scranton Mayor and Democratic candidate in the 8th Congressional District Paige Cognetti was there. So was state Sen. Rosemary Brown, R-40.

Derek Sutcliffe, a Moosic resident and constant representative of the resistance at hearings and meetings across the region, urged the crowd to take individual action and responsibility for the common good.

“Look around the room,” he said. “Take a moment to really look at the people sitting next to you. We’re all neighbors. … Your presence here proves that you know exactly where the heartbeat of this region is. It’s right here in this room.

“We’re gathered because a perfect storm is brewing over Northeastern Pennsylvania — 200 data center buildings have been proposed across Northeast PA. Massive industrial-sized complexes want to move into our backyards. Developers look at Northeast PA and see a convenient landscape — high-voltage power lines, clean fresh water, and they see land. But what they completely underestimate is the power of the people who live here.”

Pennsylvania history is lousy with industrial exploitation aided and abetted by bystanders, enablers and accomplices in government. Today’s citizens possess technology that makes holding government and industry accountable easier than ever, but old-school tools like voting and organized, relentless resistance are still the best defense.

Gleefully describing herself as “the bad Democrat in the room,” Muth enumerated the many deficiencies of Shapiro’s so-called “GRID standards” and his recent executive order removing data centers from the “Fast Track” program and pointed out that as governor, Shapiro has the power to enact a moratorium with an executive order.

“We have two existing moratoriums in the commonwealth right now,” she said. “If you didn’t know, Governor (Ed) Rendell, no fracking on state park land, and Governor (Tom) Wolf, death penalty moratorium.

“It’s always a power that can be used, and if you are in public office and not using your authority to protect the public, then you should find a new job.”

CHRIS KELLY, The Times-Tribune columnist, loves his job. Contact the writer: ckelly@scrantontimes.com; @cjkink on X; Chris Kelly, The Times-Tribune on Facebook; and @chriskellyink on Bluesky