Opponents of a massive artificial intelligence data center in Independence vowed to vote out of office two of the councilmembers who voted to give the company more than $6 billion in tax breaks.
On Tuesday, they made that a reality.
Bridget McCandless, an at-large councilmember who was running for mayor, and Jared Fears, an at-large councilmember running for reelection, were both ousted by voters. In both cases, candidates favored by data center opponents, and who ran on pro-transparency platforms, won.
“People in Independence wanted a different kind of leadership, and the data center controversy became a symbol of a much larger frustration about transparency, accountability, and whether residents were truly being heard,” said Misty Vaughn, a leader of the “Stop the AI Data Center in Independence” Facebook group, which has amassed more than 117,000 members.
The vote comes after a turbulent few months in Independence.
In March, the city council disregarded massive public outcry and voted to give more than $6 billion in tax breaks to Nebius, the company that will build the data center it has described as an “AI-factory” on the eastern edge of the city.
Then, the city rejected the data-center opponent’s efforts to force a public vote on the deal. When a Jackson County judge supported the city’s decision last month, the group focused its energy on campaigning for the candidates who opposed or least supported the data center.
Opponents spoke out at city council meetings, knocked on doors, and met nearly every night for months to gather signatures and spread information.
Vaughn said she views Tuesday’s election as another sort of referendum on the data center — one where voters can weigh in on the process and make their voices count.
“It just goes to show; when you don't listen to the people that you are representing, we're going to use our right to then vote you out,” Vaughn said.
New Mayor-elect Kevin King is one of the beneficiaries of the group’s efforts. King won his race with 60% of the vote and beat McCandless by more than 20 percentage points. He said that’s largely because he promised more transparency from City Hall and signed the petition that would have put the tax breaks on the ballot.
His win came as a shock to many outside of the data center fight. McCandless had previously beaten King by more than 17 percentage points in the February primary election, before the data center vote, and had more political experience than King, who has never served in public office before.
While King eventually backed the data center, he maintained it was important for residents to have a voice on the matter.
“I did come out in support of this,” King told KCUR after the election, “but I also met with people and told them my reasoning.”
Now, he said he has a mandate from voters to maintain transparency and to steady Independence as it faces upheaval with the data center, a new city manager and the search for a new police chief.
“Moving forward now, it's me holding Nebius accountable to the things that they've agreed to in the contract, and making sure that all those things are enforced,” King said.
‘Undoubtedly a factor’
To fill Fears’ and McCandless’ seats, voters elected to the council Jackie Dorman, the only candidate fully opposed to the data center project, and Cody Atkinson, who called for accountability on the project. Dorman received 27% of the vote, while Atkinson received 31%.
In a statement on Facebook, Fears, who turned down an interview request from KCUR, thanked supporters and acknowledged how his vote on the tax breaks played a role in the election.
“The impact of the data center was undoubtedly a factor,” wrote Fears, who maintained his recent vote for the data center was the best thing for the city. “The city will reap the benefits of that decision for many years. My sincere hope is that the city council uses the funds well to move the city forward in positive ways.”
McCandless also turned down an interview request from KCUR, but said in a statement that it’s been a privilege to serve as an at-large councilmember.
“Independence is making progress,” McCandless said. “I look forward to watching the new Council continue to make Independence a lovely place to live.”
Voters also handily rejected Lucy Young, a former city councilmember and candidate for the at-large seat who supported the data center and was hostile to its opponents at council meetings and on Facebook. Young garnered 18% of the vote.
City leaders in many places have prioritized the potential tax revenues, or payments in lieu of taxes, that data centers often offer, over public pushback.
But some Missouri residents have managed to stop data center construction, in places like in Peculiar and St. Charles. And where residents don’t win out, opponents of the data center in Independence believe the results of Tuesday’s election could serve as an example.
Across the state in Festus, voters ousted every incumbent council member after a data center deal went through. And residents in Liberty have started their own Facebook group to organize opposition to a data center deal there.
Rachel Gonzalez, a leader with the Independence anti-data center group, said the opposition has united the community and made people more civically engaged than she’s felt in a long time.
“There's never been another issue where I've felt that we've all come together in this way before,” Gonzalez said.
That’s been a pattern nationwide, too, where fights against data centers are crossing political lines.
“We had someone there in a Trump hat, and we had someone there with a Democratic Socialist shirt. We had young people, old people,” she said. “We were all there fighting for the same thing: for our community and for transparency. I think that is a huge reason that we've been successful in shifting this election.”
Gonzalez said the group will continue its work after the election, and won’t give up on trying to stop the data center. Though the judge denied their referendum efforts, city council does have the power to put the tax breaks to a public vote.
“It should be very clear how the people of Independence felt about it,” Gonzalez said. “I hope that those currently on the city council, who are staying on the city council, will take that into consideration moving forward, and still think about reconsidering this project.”
