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Morning Edition
Weekday mornings on Michigan Public, Doug Tribou hosts NPR's Morning Edition, the most listened-to news radio program in the country.

What do gubernatorial candidates on your primary ballot plan to do about data centers?

Michigan Public | By Caoilinn Goss,
Doug Tribou, Adam Yahya Rayes
Published July 22, 2026 at 11:53 AM EDT
A graphic for an "Election 2026" article headlined "Michigan governor candidate stances: data centers." Three black-and-white candidate photos are composited against a blue-to-red gradient background. On the left, an older man in a striped shirt leans forward smiling. In the center, a middle-aged man in a suit and tie smiles at the camera. On the right, a woman with blonde hair wearing a dark blazer smiles directly at the camera. The candidates are not identified by name in the graphic.
Michigan Public
We asked candidates in Michigan's gubernatorial primary for their plans to address data center developments. Republican frontrunner John James declined to be interviewed.

Data centers have quickly become a big deal in Michigan. People, companies and officials across the state have been embroiled in bitter debates over where they get built.

The next governor will likely have the opportunity to dramatically change Michigan's approach — or continue the current path. We asked the candidates about that.

Politicians sometimes share incorrect information. Get the facts about data centers here.

Get the facts about data centers:
An artistic photo showing a row full of data servers with soft blue light
.shock - stock.adobe.com
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Environment & Climate Change
Data centers in Michigan: What you need to know
Nina Misuraca Ignaczak | Planet Detroit
As data centers proliferate across the Great Lakes, driven by AI’s soaring demands, communities face a dual reality: economic growth and environmental challenges.
FILE -A lone resident of Benton Harbor, Mich., walks across Britain Street Friday, Oct. 22, 2021, near the city's water tower in Benton Harbor. Federal auditors announced an investigation Friday, Feb. 18, 2022 of how the government has dealt with lead contamination of drinking water in Benton Harbor, an impoverished, mostly Black city in southwest Michigan. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
Charles Rex Arbogast/AP
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AP
Environment & Climate Change
Are data centers a threat to the Great Lakes?
Stephen Starr | Great Lakes Now
Resistance to data center projects has grown across the state, leading over 50 municipalities to implement moratoriums.
Anna Busse, Dustin Dwyer, Steve Carmody
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Michigan Public
Politics & Government
Michigan communities are putting moratoriums on data centers. The clock is ticking.
Edith Pendell

Tags
Politics & Government Electionsprimary election2026 Midterm ElectionData Center
Caoilinn Goss
Caoilinn Goss is Michigan Public's Morning Edition producer. She pitches, produces and edits interviews and feature stories, as well as the “Mornings in Michigan” series.
See stories by Caoilinn Goss
Doug Tribou
Doug Tribou joined the Michigan Public staff as the host of Morning Edition in 2016. Doug first moved to Michigan in 2015 when he was awarded a Knight-Wallace journalism fellowship at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
See stories by Doug Tribou
Adam Yahya Rayes
Large sets of numbers add up to peoples’ stories. As Michigan Public’s Data Reporter, Adam Yahya Rayes seeks to sift through noisy digits to put the individuals and policies that make up our communities into perspective.
See stories by Adam Yahya Rayes
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