Data centers have become one of the most contentious political issues in Florida, with communities rising to fight proposals that people fear will strain power grids, increase residential utility bills, deplete water supplies, and boost air pollution.

The outcry has been so intense that the Legislature passed a measure designed to put “guard rails” on the data center development process, though utility companies that would sell massive amounts of electricity to data centers seemed thrilled with the new law. So maybe those “guard rails” won’t be all they’re cracked up to be.

Meanwhile, the companies developing the data centers themselves have, of course, been throwing “dirty money” at politicians — none more so than Republican Governor candidate Byron Donalds.

In a July story, Politico noted that “since Donalds launched his campaign in February 2025, he’s received dozens of contributions from artificial intelligence groups and donors as well as from multiple companies seeking to build hyperscale data centers in Florida….

More:

“At least four developers that are actively pursuing or had previously proposed data centers in the Sunshine State have offered five- and six-figure donations to Donalds’ political action committee. A host of other data center developers and major industry players outside of Florida have also contributed, while two PACs battling over AI regulation have both bought advertisements for his campaign.”

Donations to Donalds’ “Friends of Byron Donalds” political action committee include:

• $100,000 from Nelson Ferreira, the founder of several construction and energy companies who was the developer behind a previous data center proposal in the rural village of Indiantown, Martin County.
• $400,000 from Ferreira Construction, where Ferreira is CEO.
• $100,000 from Palm Beach Aggregates, a partner in a related company called PBA Holdings that is pushing the proposed “Project Tango” data center in Palm Beach County.
• $250,000 from Tennessee-based Phillips Infrastructure Corp., also a partner in PBA Holdings.
• $25,000 from Enrique Tomeu, the president of PBA Holdings.
• $10,000 from Fort Meade LLC, which is trying to build a data center in Polk County.
• $7,000 from Timberline Real Estate Partners, which proposed the now-withdrawn plan to build the massive “Sentinel Grove” data center in western St. Lucie County.
• And the Donalds campaign has gotten seven separate $3,000 donations from Timberline-related companies this cycle as well.

But though Donalds’s haul is significant, he’s hardly the only one getting data center money. A search of Timberline’s donations this session, for example, shows the firm contributed $25,000 to the Friends of Ben Albritton and Friends of Jim Boyd political committees; Albritton was Senate President for the 2026 session, Boyd will be Senate President next year.

Also getting contributions from Timberline either directly to their campaign or to their PACs were Rep. Sam Garrison, incoming House Speaker; Sens. Danny Burgess, Tom Leek and Jay Trumbull; and Reps. James Buchanan, Jennifer Canady, Traci Koster, and John Snyder, along with Agriculture Secretary Wilton Simpson and Attorney General James Uthmeier.

Uthmeier’s campaign got $3,000 from Timberline, while his PAC, Friends of James Uthmeier, banked another $25,000.

And that’s just one would-be data center developer. There are others — and there will be even more.

It sets up an interesting dynamic: Even as Floridians are lining up to oppose data centers, many Florida politicians are lined up to take data center money. That’s a clash waiting to happen; and politicians who promise to protect Floridians FROM data centers who at the same time are working to saddle them WITH data centers are in for a hard time from here on out.

Grab some popcorn — it’s going to be quite the spectacle!