Josh Shapiro’s Data Center Flip‑Flop: A Political Tightrope
Pennsylvania’s governor has sprinted from fast‑track data‑center approvals to a slowdown order, and the fallout may shape his re‑election and future ambitions.
From Fast‑Track to Full Stop
In the first 20 months of his term, Gov. Josh Shapiro moved from championing a “fast‑track” permitting process for hyper‑scale data centers to halting that momentum with an executive order aimed at slowing new projects.
In November 2024, Shapiro announced the Pennsylvania Permit Fast Track Program, promising to speed state permitting for “key economic development and infrastructure projects.” He framed the move as letting data centers “move at the speed of business.”
Less than a year later, the governor issued an executive order that removed data centers from the fast‑track program and signaled a shift toward more cautious development.
Garrity’s Attack and the Polls
Republican gubernatorial candidate Stacy Garrity has seized on Shapiro’s reversal, making the data‑center issue a focal point of her campaign. She has highlighted the governor’s earlier embrace of the industry and contrasted it with his later slowdown.
Despite the heated rhetoric, polls tracking the governor’s race show that Garrity’s standing has not shifted dramatically because of the data‑center debate.
However, a July Quinnipiac poll reveals a vulnerability for Shapiro: while 56 % of Pennsylvania voters approve of him overall, only 24 % approve of his handling of AI data centers, 34 % disapprove, and 42 % are unsure.
AI, Data Centers, and Political Stakes
Shapiro entered office in January 2023, months after the launch of ChatGPT. By September 2023, he signed an executive order on generative AI, creating a governing board and standards for state use of the technology.
He told the media that Pennsylvania must balance AI’s benefits with its risks, a stance he later echoed regarding data‑center development.
“If we take the course that other states and countries have taken to completely ban AI for government purposes, we’re going to seriously lose out on the opportunity presented to us to improve government services for Pennsylvanians,” Shapiro said. “At the same time, know that AI will never replace the ingenuity, the creativity, and the lived experience of our outstanding workforce in the commonwealth.”
Data centers are attractive to companies because of Pennsylvania’s natural‑gas industry, linking the AI conversation to broader economic considerations.
Future Implications
Shapiro’s handling of data centers may come under intense scrutiny if he pursues a presidential bid in 2028. Voters and analysts will likely examine whether his rapid initial support followed by a slowdown reflects a thoughtful policy evolution or a misstep.
As the governor’s favorability has slipped over the past two years—a trend that aligns with the rise of the data‑center issue—observers wonder if his pivot will be enough to shield him from criticism that he “moved too fast” on AI‑related infrastructure.
Only time will tell whether the data‑center controversy will be a footnote or a defining chapter in Shapiro’s political narrative.
