If you’re keeping score at home – and you should be – that’s Prince William County voters 1, data centers 0.
An anti-data center grassroots movement that began on the quiet, tree-lined streets of the over-55 Heritage Hunt community spread across what’s left of the Rural Crescent on Tuesday and turned Board of County Supervisors Chair Ann Wheeler into a lame duck.
Wheeler, who spearheaded the effort to push through Comprehensive Plan changes paving the way for the massive PW Digital Gateway project on Pageland Lane, just east of Heritage Hunt, saw her bid for reelection end in Tuesday’s Democratic primary. She was toppled by political newcomer Deshundra Jefferson, even though she outspent Jefferson by a 5-to-1 margin, with many of Wheeler’s dollars coming from data center developers, contractors and landowners.
The message from voters Tuesday was clear: Ramrodding developments through the approval process without transparency and without paying any attention to citizen input will have consequences. But what that means for future data center development in Prince William remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, both Jefferson and Lawson have work left to do in the 20 weeks until Election Day. Lawson faces more of an uphill battle in what is clearly becoming a blue county. Over 25,000 people voted in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, compared to just 13,000 on the GOP side.
In the primary, Lawson was able to dodge her opponent and avoid debates and forums. She has no such choice in the general election. She needs to introduce herself to voters east of Route 28 who don’t know her and outline exactly what she means when she says she will instill more control over how and where data centers are built. And she needs to counter arguments that she’s a right-wing MAGA Republican.
Meanwhile, Jefferson needs to expand her campaign beyond just an anti-data center platform – since that’s an issue she and her November opponent now agree on – and make herself better known to an even larger swath of county voters.
We look forward to hearing from Lawson and Jefferson frequently on these topics and others, in a variety of formats, between now and November. The voters of Prince William deserve no less. And they made it clear Tuesday that they will accept no less.