LONGVIEW, Texas (KLTV) – The contest for who will represent Texas House District 7 pits incumbent state Rep. Jay Dean (R-Longview) against Democratic nominee Fantasha Allen.
Dean is running for a sixth term.
“This train has sort of left the station,” Dean said, referring to data center construction. “Those companies did a terrible job of getting out front in their public relations to explain and make sure people understood exactly what they are and what they are not.”
“I like the idea of the power that they need, that they build their own power plants,” Dean added.
Allen said data center constructions should be up to local citizens.
“If the people in that county do not want the data centers there, they shouldn’t be there,” Allen said.
“I do see a lot of people say that when a data center is built by them, they’re losing water and their electricity bill is going up,” added Allen. “I won’t want that for East Texas because most of us here are already living paycheck-to-paycheck.”
The district includes Gregg, Harrison, and Marion counties.
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