Republican front-runner Byron Donalds held a campaign event Friday in Clearwater in his quest for governor. There, he said he's in favor of slowing down building new data centers — but opposes a statewide moratorium.
As opposition to large-scale data centers increases in Florida — so has the flow of money to politicians. Published reports say supporters have spent more than $22 million on campaign contributions this year. And more than $5 million of that has been donated to Donald's campaign.
Earlier this month, New York became the first state to enact a statewide, one-year moratorium on new centers.
The likely Democratic lead for governor, David Jolly, has called for a statewide moratorium.
Donalds said a balance can be found.
"But you also have to understand that when you start doing stuff like what New York just did, that's a signal to the business community that this is not a place to invest capital," he said. "This is not a place to invest in businesses, and so we have to be balanced and be mindful about that."
Donalds said the law on large-scale centers in Florida is clear.
"In the state of Florida, utility bills for Floridians will not go up if a hyperscale data center is built," he said. "The law is also in the state of Florida today that if you build one of these data centers, you have to get a consumptive use permit from the water management district for the water.
His stop in Clearwater was held to unveil his Healthy Florida, Healthy Families initiative. It's his plan to get highly-processed foods out of schools and lead out of school drinking water.
"We are fighting for a robust comprehensive approach to family well-being. That means empowering parents," he said. "It means protecting our neighborhoods and expanding access to outdoor recreation and physical education so our kids can live active and healthy lives."
"Our kids can't inspect the labels, and they can't test the water fountains themselves," he said. "That's our job, and we are going to do that job."
Donalds also repeated his opposition to debating any of his Republican rivals for governor before the primaries, saying it would give "free publicity to my competitors." He said he will debate the Democratic front-runner, Jolly.
