NEW: Ryan Mackenzie’s Pro-Data Center Record Exposed

Washington, D.C. – New reporting from The Keystone Newsroom reveals that GOP Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (PA-07) is campaigning against data centers after using his power as an elected official to give the industry tax breaks and limit local oversight—policies that cost Pennsylvania taxpayers billions. The report details that Ryan Mackenzie voted for a sales tax exemption for data centers for up to 25 years and backed a 10-year moratorium preventing state and local governments from regulating AI data centers.

Read more below:

The Keystone Newsroom: Ryan Mackenzie backed data center tax breaks before campaigning against them
By Sean Kitchen
September 23, 2026

• As data centers become one of the main issues voters are honing in on ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, lawmakers from both parties are scrambling to redefine their previous positions and pin their opposition as the pro-data center candidate. 

• US Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Lehigh), who is running for reelection against former firefighter Bob Brooks (D) in the Lehigh Valley, is among those reversing their views on data centers. 

• Last week, Mackenzie’s campaign posted a graphic promising to make data centers “pay their fair share.”

• However, while serving in the state legislature, Mackenzie voted for a sales tax exemption that gave data centers tax breaks on some of the biggest costs associated with constructing and maintaining the facilities.
  
• The following year, he voted to extend the 6% sales tax exemption for up to 25 years. 

• According to Spotlight PA, the commonwealth is expected to lose close to $2 billion in sales tax revenue from this industry handout by 2031. 

• Mackenzie’s legislative account recently published a video of him speaking on the US House floor in support of giving control of data center development to local authorities.

• But last year, he voted for early versions of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, which included a 10-year moratorium preventing state and local municipalities from regulating the construction and operation of AI data centers.

• Mackenzie’s post also accused Brooks of flip-flopping on data center regulations, taking money from data center backers, and profiting off of tech and artificial intelligence (AI) stocks, without pointing to any specifics or providing evidence. 

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