Scranton mayor says ‘we’re not for sale’ in TV spot
Paige Cognetti, the Democratic mayor of Scranton and challenger to freshman Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan, is airing a new television ad that targets artificial intelligence data center projects in the swing Pennsylvania congressional district, according to the Associated Press. The ad declares “we’re not for sale.”
Cognetti speaks to the camera and invokes the region’s industrial heritage as a coal and shale gas powerhouse. “Big companies have come before, taken what they wanted and left us with their mess to clean up. Now it’s data centers,” she says in the spot.
Democrats consider the race one of their best opportunities to pick up a seat in the November election as the party seeks to retake control of the U.S. House and block President Donald Trump’s agenda, the AP reported.
The district has been buffeted by AI data center projects, according to the Associated Press. The opposition to data centers that has upended races for local offices across the country is now spreading to top-of-the-ticket contests, the AP reported.
Cognetti’s ad comes as communities in the district are actively fighting data center projects, the wire service said.