2026-09-19T05:00:58-04:00 / 福克斯新闻
财务记录显示，布朗还收受了聚焦许可改革与电网可靠性议题的谷歌说客数千美元捐款
作者：基拉·麦克唐纳、安德鲁·马克·米勒 福克斯新闻
发布于2026年9月19日美国东部时间早上5:00
参议员伯尼·莫雷诺警告数据中心反弹将影响俄亥俄州参议院竞选
参议员伯尼·莫雷诺探讨了俄亥俄州大规模数据中心的快速扩张将如何影响即将到来的中期选举。副总统JD·万斯将这些设施吹捧为推动美国人工智能产业繁荣的必要基础，而莫雷诺则警告称，当地社区可能会对电网压力上升提出担忧。莫雷诺分析了政治影响以及与中国竞争的关键人工智能赛道局势。
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福克斯新闻独家报道： 前民主党参议员谢罗德·布朗在最新竞选广告中针对共和党参议员乔恩·赫斯特德，抨击俄亥俄州日益壮大的数据中心产业，广告中出现了谷歌旗下的一处数据中心——而谷歌的政治行动委员会及其说客已经向布朗的竞选活动捐赠了数千美元。
这则9月4日发布的广告中，一名俄亥俄州民众指责赫斯特德带头“推动将数据中心引入俄亥俄州”，并将其扩张与“更高的电费”联系起来。
广告中出现的这座数据中心于2023年在兰卡斯特开业，为谷歌所有。
福克斯新闻数字频道审查的竞选财务记录显示，谷歌的政治行动委员会在布朗的政治生涯中总计向其捐赠了2万美元。布朗还从为谷歌游说的个人手中收受了数千美元捐款，其中两人所在的律所曾参与许可、电网可靠性和能源负担能力相关议题的工作。
观看： 共和党参议员在关键参议院对决中痛斥“华盛顿的怪物”挑战者
谷歌位于俄亥俄州兰卡斯特的数据中心成为前参议员谢罗德·布朗最新竞选广告的核心，与此同时人们对谷歌过往的竞选捐款提出了质疑。(斯蒂芬·马图伦/盖蒂图片社；米卡拉·康普顿/《奥斯汀美国政治家报》 via 盖蒂图片社)
“显然谷歌糟糕到足以被用作竞选攻击广告的素材，但当政治捐款流向自己时，谷歌就完全可以接受了，”俄亥俄州共和党战略家、律师梅赫克·库克在给福克斯新闻数字频道的一份声明中表示。“这就是布朗需要回应的矛盾之处。如果谷歌在兰卡斯特的投资对俄亥俄州如此不利，那为什么谢罗德·布朗还能接受谷歌的政治捐款？”
联邦选举委员会的记录显示，捐款者包括谷歌说客丽莎·孔图佩斯，她于3月捐赠了3500美元，以及谷歌说客迈克尔·D·史密斯，自2017年以来他总计向布朗捐赠了10200美元。这些捐款都流向了布朗的主要竞选委员会“谢罗德·布朗之友”。
据《政客》此前报道，孔图佩斯所在的律所孔图佩斯·登汉姆·卡尔·里德于去年12月被谷歌聘用，就与其数据中心需求相关的“许可改革议题”进行游说。根据联邦游说备案文件，史密斯所在的基石政府事务事务所曾报告称，其为谷歌就“电网可靠性与能源负担能力相关的许可改革议题”进行游说。
联邦选举委员会的记录显示，在过去十年中，布朗还从另外三名谷歌说客手中总计收受了6000美元捐款。
在给福克斯新闻数字频道的一份声明中，布朗竞选团队的发言人劳伦·周强调了布朗反对俄亥俄州数据中心扩张的立场，称赫斯特德是“牵头人”，但并未提及布朗过往的竞选捐款。
“赫斯特德是俄亥俄州拥有226座数据中心的‘主要原因’，也是俄亥俄州‘数据中心的代言人’，”周写道。“俄亥俄州民众不应该被迫为这些成本买单，应该由俄亥俄州民众——而非乔恩·赫斯特德和他的亿万富翁朋友们——来决定是否在社区内建设数据中心。”
库克指责布朗表现得仿佛“他在华盛顿与谷歌的关系不算数”，称这是“两面派政治”。
福克斯新闻民调： 经济焦虑与对候选人的担忧主导俄亥俄州参议院竞选
俄亥俄州共和党参议员乔恩·赫斯特德在美国华盛顿特区参议院卫生、教育、劳工与养老金委员会的确认听证会上，2025年2月13日周四。(盖蒂图片社)
“近五十年来，布朗一直将自己包装成身穿格子衬衫的工人阶级民粹主义者，”她说。“他在2024年竞选失利，如今又重拾老一套：对俄亥俄州民众说一套，而他在华盛顿的记录却道出了截然不同的事实。”
布朗正试图在这场关乎大局的竞选中击败赫斯特德，重返美国参议院。他于2006年当选美国参议员，2024年连任竞选失利，输给了俄亥俄州共和党参议员伯尼·莫雷诺。
但这并非布朗的复出竞选首次因立场矛盾引发质疑。
福克斯新闻民调： 民主党团结与共和党跨党派投票塑造俄亥俄州参议院竞选
2025年7月24日，俄亥俄州哥伦布市的COL4人工智能就绪数据中心位于一个占地7英亩的园区内，地处长途光纤与区域运营商光纤网络的交汇处。(伊莱·希勒/《华盛顿邮报》 via 盖蒂图片社)
2015年，布朗曾为俄亥俄州中部一座亚马逊数据中心的建设表示祝贺，在一份新闻稿中称新设施“对新奥尔巴尼和俄亥俄州中部来说是好消息”。
尽管曾公开赞扬，布朗如今已成为俄亥俄州日益增多的数据中心的直言不讳的批评者，这一议题是中期选举前俄亥俄州政坛的核心议题。前总统唐纳德·特朗普曾推动扩大数据中心建设，警告称抵制数据中心的社区将“最终变得落后且贫困”。
但库克表示，这不仅仅关乎当地的一座数据中心。
点击此处下载福克斯新闻应用
“美国正处于人工智能、计算能力和能源基础设施的全球竞赛中，”她说。“中国不会因为美国政客发现攻击数据中心能成为便捷的竞选广告素材就放慢脚步。”
在给福克斯新闻数字频道的一份声明中，赫斯特德竞选团队的发言人艾米·纳托斯表示，布朗在华盛顿的32年里辜负了俄亥俄州的家庭，如今“再次诉诸谎言，而非直面他糟糕透顶的记录”。
“众议院以压倒性多数通过了赫斯特德参议员的两党法案，要求数据中心公司为其使用的电力付费，但参议院民主党人阻挠了该法案，”纳托斯说。“谢罗德·布朗和他的朋友们宁愿玩弄政治，让俄亥俄州的家庭承担更高的电费，也不愿通过一项合乎情理的解决方案。这太卑劣了。”
基拉·麦克唐纳是福克斯新闻数字频道的制作助理。
Dem’s data center attack in critical Senate race hits snag when money trail surfaces: ‘Jekyll-and-Hyde’
2026-09-19T05:00:58-04:00 / Fox News
Finance records show Brown also took thousands from Google lobbyists focused on permitting reform and grid reliability
By Kiera McDonald, Andrew Mark Miller Fox News
Published September 19, 2026 5:00am EDT
Sen Bernie Moreno warns of data center backlash impacting Ohio Senate race
Sen. Bernie Moreno discusses how the rapid expansion of massive data centers in Ohio could impact the upcoming midterm elections. While Vice President JD Vance touts these facilities as essential for powering the American artificial intelligence boom, Moreno warns local communities could raise concerns over energy grid strains. Moreno analyzes the political fallout and the critical AI race against China.
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FIRST ON FOX: Former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown is targeting Republican Sen. Jon Husted over Ohio’s growing data center industry in a new campaign ad that features a facility owned by Google — whose corporate PAC and lobbyists have contributed thousands of dollars to Brown’s campaigns.
The Sept. 4 ad features an Ohioan blaming Husted for spearheading “the push to bring data centers to Ohio” and linking their expansion to “higher electric bills.”
The facility featured in the ad, which opened in Lancaster in 2023, is owned by Google.
Campaign finance records reviewed by Fox News Digital show Google’s corporate PAC contributed $20,000 to Brown over his political career. Brown also received thousands of dollars from individuals who lobby for Google, including two whose firms have worked on permitting, grid reliability and energy affordability issues.
WATCH: GOP SENATOR UNLOADS ON ‘CREATURE OF WASHINGTON’ CHALLENGER IN CRITICAL SENATE SHOWDOWN
Google’s data center in Lancaster, Ohio, is at the center of former Sen. Sherrod Brown’s latest campaign ad as questions are raised about past campaign contributions from Google.(Stephen Maturen/Getty Images ; Mikala Compton/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)
“Apparently Google is terrible enough to put in a campaign attack ad, but perfectly acceptable when the political contributions are coming in,” Mehek Cooke, a GOP strategist and attorney in Ohio, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “That is the contradiction Brown needs to answer. If Google’s Lancaster investment is so bad for Ohio, why was Google political money acceptable to Sherrod Brown?”
Among the contributors are Google lobbyist Lisa Kountoupes, who donated $3,500 in March, and Google lobbyist Michael D. Smith, who donated a total of $10,200 to Brown since 2017, according to Federal Election Commission records. The contributions were made to Friends of Sherrod Brown, Brown’s principal campaign committee.
Kountoupes’s firm, Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid, was hired by Google in December to lobby on “issues related to permitting reform” tied to the company’s data center needs, Politico previously reported. Smith’s firm, Cornerstone Government Affairs, reported lobbying for Google on “issues related to permitting reform for grid reliability and energy affordability,” according to federal lobbying filings.
FEC records show Brown also received a combined $6,000 over the past decade from three additional Google lobbyists.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Lauren Chou, a spokeswoman for Brown’s campaign, highlighted Brown’s opposition to Ohio’s data center expansion, saying Husted “led the charge,” but did not address Brown’s past campaign contributions.
“Husted is a ‘chief reason’ Ohio has 226 data centers and is ‘the face of data centers’ in Ohio,” Chou wrote. “Ohioans shouldn’t be forced to subsidize these costs and Ohioans – not Jon Husted and his billionaire friends – should get to decide if data centers are built in their community.”
Cooke accused Brown of acting like his “Google relationship in Washington does not count,” calling it “Jekyll-and-Hyde politics.”
FOX NEWS POLL: ECONOMIC ANXIETY AND CANDIDATE CONCERNS DEFINE OHIO SENATE RACE
Senator Jon Husted, a Republican from Ohio, during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025.(Getty Images)
“For nearly five decades, Brown has sold himself as the plaid-shirt, working-class populist,” she said. “He lost in 2024, and now he is back running the same playbook: say one thing to Ohioans while his Washington record tells a very different story.”
Brown, who is seeking to return to the U.S. Senate in the high-stakes race against Husted, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006 before losing his reelection bid in 2024 to Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio.
But this isn’t the first time Brown’s comeback campaign has faced questions over conflicting positions.
FOX NEWS POLL: DEMOCRATIC UNITY, REPUBLICAN CROSSOVERS SHAPE OHIO SENATE RACE
The COL4 AI-ready data center is located on a seven-acre campus at the convergence point of long-haul fiber and regional carrier fiber networks on July 24, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio.(Eli Hiller/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)
In 2015, Brown celebrated the construction of an Amazon data center in central Ohio, saying in a press release the new facility “is great news for New Albany and central Ohio.”
Despite his public praise, Brown has become an outspoken critic of Ohio’s growing number of data centers, a defining issue in Ohio politics ahead of the midterms. President Donald Trump has pushed to expand the facilities, warning that communities that block them would “end up being backwards and poor.”
But Cooke said this about more than one local data center.
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“America is in a global race for AI, computing capacity and energy infrastructure,” she said. “China is not slowing down because American politicians discovered that attacking data centers makes a convenient campaign commercial.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Husted campaign spokesperson Amy Natoce said that Brown failed Ohio families during his 32 years in Washington and is “once again resorting to lies instead of facing his abysmal record head-on. “
“The House overwhelmingly passedSen. Husted’s bipartisan legislationrequiring data center companies to pay for the power they use, but Senate Democrats blocked it,” Natoce said. “Sherrod Brown and his friends would rather play politics and stick Ohio families with higher electric bills than pass a commonsense solution. It’s despicable.”
Kiera McDonald is a Production Assistant for Fox News Digital.