Mallory McMorrow's Shifting Positions on Data Centers, Budget Claims and Surveillance Pricing Raise Questions in Michigan Senate Race

State Sen. McMorrow's Campaign Promotes Populist Stance While Voting for Big Tech Tax Breaks

LANSING — As Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow campaigns on populist positions against corporate power, her legislative record reveals a more complex relationship with the very industries she claims to oppose.

A recent fact-check from Michigan Capitol Confidential found that McMorrow has overstated Michigan's population growth and understated the growth of state tax collections in a March 9 interview, while the Jacobin reported that McMorrow appears to assume she can make an influencer video depicting herself as a leader of a cause all while refusing to actually fight for it in her current position of power.

Data Center Plan Contradicts Legislative Record

McMorrow recently released a comprehensive policy plan for Michigan data centers, proposing requirements for transparency, renewable energy sourcing, and union labor. Her plan calls for federal legislation to ban non-disclosure agreements between local governments and technology companies, and for developers to bear the costs of any additional infrastructure or power generation associated with data center facilities.

"When it comes to data centers, Michigan has an opportunity to show the country how to do it right," McMorrow said in announcing the plan, which also proposes requirements for data centers to source at least 90% of their projected electricity needs from renewable sources and use local union labor.

However, as a state legislator, McMorrow voted for tax breaks to lure data centers to the state. Under the new law, developers can avoid paying sales and use taxes through at least 2050 if they invest at least $250 million, employ 30 people and meet other requirements.

That could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks per facility. The law also sought to ensure data centers use municipal water with available capacity and pay electric rates that do not cause residential customers to "subsidize the costs" of powering the facilities.

Since the new law took effect, data center developers have purchased land or pitched projects in at least 16 Michigan communities. Another 19 communities have proposed or voted on moratoriums to temporarily halt new data centers as they consider limits on where, when and how the facilities can operate.

McMorrow said she wants to make sure data centers "bring in transformational investments for Michigan communities when they build here."

"That means data center companies, not Michigan families, will pay for their own energy, grid upgrades for the benefit of all ratepayers; pay their fair share in taxes to fund our schools, roads, and communities; and pay our workers by creating good-paying union jobs," she said.

Budget Claims Don't Add Up

In a March 9 MIRS News interview, McMorrow made claims about state revenue and population growth that don't align with the record.

"Adjusted for inflation, the state of Michigan is operating with the same revenue we had in 1968 despite gaining more than 3 million people from then until today," McMorrow told MIRS.

However, James Hohman, a fiscal policy expert at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, told Michigan Capitol Confidential that the state's revenue and population numbers do not align with the senator's claims.

Michigan's population increased from 8.7 million in 1968 to 10.1 million in 2025, an increase of 1.4 million, not 3 million. State revenue was $2 billion in the 1967-68 fiscal year. If the state government revenue trend were flat, state revenue, adjusted for inflation, would be $18.9 billion. Instead, it was $48.9 billion in 2024-25, an increase of 2330%.

This means the state spent $2,178 per person in 1967-68 but $4,832 in 2024-25, for a 122% increase.

McMorrow did not respond to a request for comment regarding these claims.

"We saw a presentation in state Senate Appropriations that shows that our revenues simply are not keeping up," McMorrow told MIRS. "However, the tax burden has shifted off of corporations and on to middle-income taxpayers. So I hear residents saying, 'I feel like I'm paying a lot. I'm not getting anything for it,' and we need a fairer tax structure that supports the revenue that we need to ensure we can appropriately fund our schools, our roads, our infrastructure and, especially right now, Medicaid."

Surveillance Pricing Claims Under Scrutiny

McMorrow recently went viral presenting herself as a populist crusader against surveillance pricing, with an explainer video depicting herself as a leader of the cause. However, her legislative record on the issue tells a different story.

Jacobin reported that McMorrow appears to assume she can make an influencer video depicting herself as a leader of a cause all while refusing to actually fight for it.

"I started my search in the Michigan legislature and found a whole list of bills that reference pricing. I did find HB 5771 and HB 5222: Democratic legislation in the state's GOP-led House that's designed to curtail surveillance pricing. McMorrow is not listed as a sponsor of these bills nor do there appear to be versions of these bills in Michigan's Democratic-led Senate, where McMorrow serves as the chamber's majority whip."

The American Economic Liberties Project's Lee Hepner told Jacobin that "the Michigan bill is very much on our radar, and resembles bills we've been working on in other states and it would be a good one to support," and then added that "it's just so weird" for McMorrow to promise to introduce legislation in the U.S. Senate that she hasn't introduced in the state senate that she currently leads.

What's at Stake

McMorrow is one of three major candidates competing for votes in Michigan's Democratic U.S. Senate primary, along with Abdul El-Sayed and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens.

El-Sayed proposed "Terms of Engagement" for proposed data center projects in January, noting the size and scale of proposed facilities are causing "alarm and concern" about the impacts on water resources, electric bills and safety.

Data center developers and utilities should be held to binding agreements on keeping electric rates down, guaranteeing energy reliability, committing to a closed-loop cooling system to limit stress on local water resources and adhering to existing clean energy laws, according to his policy platform.

Both McMorrow's and El-Sayed's plans call for penalties for companies that don't adhere to ratepayer protections and environmental requirements or fail to deliver on job creation.

Stevens told Bridge Michigan that her top priority when it comes to data centers "is making sure costs don't go up for Michigan families and that we are protecting good-paying union jobs." She said there should be "a clear, responsible policy framework" for data centers and AI to "ensure these technologies are developed safely and securely."

The Growing Data Center Debate

Data center debates have cropped up throughout Michigan as tech companies eye sites in at least 16 communities. About 14% of respondents identified data centers or artificial intelligence as top concerns in Bridge Listens, an unscientific survey of election-year issues.

McMorrow's plan proposes that data centers:

• Ban non-disclosure agreements between local governments and tech companies
• Require developers to pay for their own energy and grid upgrades
• Source at least 90% of electricity from renewable sources
• Use local union labor

McMorrow said she wants to make sure data centers "bring in transformational investments for Michigan communities when they build here."

"That means data center companies, not Michigan families, will pay for their own energy, grid upgrades for the benefit of all ratepayers; pay their fair share in taxes to fund our schools, roads, and communities; and pay our workers by creating good-paying union jobs," she said.

What Voters Should Know

As the Michigan Senate race heats up, voters are being presented with competing visions of how to handle the growing presence of data centers and artificial intelligence in the state.

McMorrow's campaign promotes her data center plan as a way to ensure tech companies pay their fair share and bring benefits to Michigan communities. However, her legislative record shows she voted for tax breaks that could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars in tax relief for data center developers.

Her claims about state revenue and population growth also don't align with the available data, raising questions about the accuracy of her economic analysis.

As the race continues, voters will have to weigh McMorrow's populist messaging against her legislative record and the specific policies she proposes for Michigan's data center boom.

Sources

• Michigan Capitol Confidential: McMorrow budget figures don't add up — https://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/news/mcmorrow-budget-figures-dont-add-up
• Jacobin: Abdul El-Sayed's Senate Opponent Is a Phony Populist — https://jacobin.com/2026/04/mcmorrow-surveillance-pricing-cynical-campaign
• Bridge Michigan: In Senate race, Mallory McMorrow pitches plan to do data centers 'right' — https://bridgemi.com/michigan-government/in-senate-race-mallory-mcmorrow-pitches-plan-to-do-data-centers-right/