A CBS News/YouGov poll conducted October 8–16 finds the Texas Senate race between Attorney General Ken Paxton and state Rep. James Talarico essentially tied, with cost of living identified as voters’ top issue. Most respondents said higher prices had affected them negatively, according to CBS News.
Energy affordability has become a shared campaign theme even as the candidates differ sharply on climate and regulation. Both have called for ending the federal gasoline tax; Talarico’s proposal would be temporary, while Paxton supports making the change permanent, Texas Tribune reporting published with Capital & Main says. The federal tax is 18.4 cents per gallon of gasoline, the report notes.
Data centers are a central infrastructure issue in that debate. Texas has nearly 400 facilities operating, planned or under construction, which together are estimated to require nearly 17 terawatt-hours of electricity annually, according to the Texas Tribune report. Both candidates back repealing sales-tax exemptions for data centers and requiring the facilities to pay for their own electricity infrastructure improvements.
Their positions diverge on local authority and household assistance. Talarico has called for communities and local governments to have a role in permitting data-center construction, and has proposed expanding and restructuring the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program for hot-climate states. The Tribune reported that Paxton has not advanced a comparable LIHEAP proposal and has supported Gov. Greg Abbott’s approach of making data centers fund their own infrastructure while reducing local impacts.
For utility operators and local agencies, the overlap on assigning infrastructure costs to high-load facilities is notable. The candidates’ disagreement is more pronounced over climate policy, permitting and the role of local governments in deciding where new data centers are built.