Some Washington Democrats spent time last week on X taking a bow for GDP numbers, claiming it shows the strength of party leadership and policies. But the GDP growth is powered by the an industry those in power are actively banning.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that Washington posted the fastest economic growth in the nation to start 2026, with state GDP expanding at a 4.5% annualized rate in the first quarter, more than double the national pace of 2.1%. Washington Democrats treated the report like a campaign ad. Indeed, Gov. Bob Ferguson has spent the summer citing rosy rankings as proof his agenda works, touting a WalletHub ranking he conveniently declined to link because the underlying data credits the tech sector, not him. When he unveiled his new Economic Development Council last month, he kept the spin going.

“Washington is a great place to do business and raise a family,” Ferguson said.

Here is what is left out of the GDP data. The growth came almost entirely from the information sector, meaning software, cloud computing, and digital services. Economists at Western Washington University say the surge traces to AI spending, with Amazon and Microsoft projected to pour roughly $390 billion into AI infrastructure this year. In other words, the artificial intelligence buildout Democrats love to demonize is the only thing keeping Washington’s economic numbers respectable.

Democrats ban the industry, then take credit for it

While Washington Democrats bragged on social media, the party’s local officials were busy outlawing the growth engine.

The Seattle City Council voted unanimously in June for a one-year moratorium on large data centers, dismissing a federal warning that the ban raises national security concerns in the technology race against China. Councilmember Debora Juarez went further, telling a cheering audience she would halt AI and data center development entirely if she could. Two weeks later, Spokane’s council passed its own yearlong moratorium on a 6-1 vote after activists melted down over a proposed 500-megawatt facility that Avista was negotiating.

So the sector delivering the GDP growth Democrats are celebrating cannot actually build anything in the state’s two largest cities. Think about how absurd that is. The party is posting the receipts from an industry it treats like a public health hazard, and nobody in leadership seems embarrassed by it.

The rest of the economic picture exposes the con. Washington’s unemployment rate sits at 5.2%, nearly a full point above the national average of 4.3% and among the worst in the country. The state added a pathetic 2,300 net payroll jobs over the past 12 months. GDP measures output, and a handful of tech giants can generate enormous output while the rest of the state’s labor market rots.

The jobs Democrats rejected could replace the jobs AI killed

Seattle leads global rankings for AI-driven layoffs, with Meta, Oracle, Snap, and others shedding thousands of local jobs this year. Meanwhile, the Seattle metro lost roughly 1,700 construction jobs over the past year, ranking 347th out of 360 metros, precisely because the hottest driver of construction nationwide skipped a region that made itself hostile.

Data centers will not replace every job AI eliminates. Nobody serious claims they will. But they generate exactly the work Washington is bleeding; construction trades during the multi-year buildouts, then electricians, HVAC technicians, security staff, and operations crews once facilities open. Those are solid middle-class jobs that do not require a computer science degree. Democrats looked at that trade and chose the applause of activists who chanted about tech billionaires at public comment.

The honest version of the story is simple. AI investment saved Washington’s GDP numbers. Washington Democrats banned the infrastructure that investment requires, then took a victory lap on the results. When the data center money finishes flowing to Texas, Georgia, and Ohio, and the quarterly numbers come back to earth, the same politicians will blame everyone but themselves.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3 p.m. – 7 p.m. on Seattle Red on 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow Jason Rantz on X, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.