As the backlash against data center development continues to shape the upcoming midterm elections, both Democrats and Republicans have been ratcheting up the rhetoric about their opponents’ records backing data centers.
Pennsylvania Republican Treasurer Stacy Garrity is accusing Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) of taking millions in campaign contributions from data center developers while accepting campaign contributions from data center developers herself. Fact checkers have noted that not all of the money Garrity referenced came from data center developers.
The Gist
Campaign finance reports from the Pennsylvania Department of State show that Garrity received $10,000 from James Marzolino, owner of Kriger Construction and a developer linked to the proposed Project Gravity data center campus in Archbald, Lackawanna County.
According to the Scranton Times, Marzolino purchased the 186-acre plot of land from Louis DeNaples, a Lackawanna County businessman with alleged ties to the Bufalino crime family, for $825,000 in May 2023, and then sold it to Project Gravity for more than $12 million in October 2024. DeNaples has denied knowing mob boss Russell Bufalino personally.
Additionally, firms linked to Marzolino have proposed other data centers in the area. They include Project Boson, a 620,000-square-foot data center at the Highway Auto Parts junkyard in Archbald, and four data centers in Dickson City.
Archbald: Pennsylvania’s data center capital?
Archbald, a municipality of nearly 7,000, is where developers are looking to build six sprawling data center campuses which include 51 data warehouses, each equivalent in size to a Walmart Supercenter. Those campuses would take up 14% of the town’s land, according to the Washington Post.
Marzolino is connected to three out of the 10 proposed data center campuses in Archbald.
Earlier this year, the Project Gravity site sparked anger in the community after its owners applied for permits and removed all of the trees from the property.
What they’re saying
Shapiro pointed to Archbald’s data center development and linked it back to coal companies and other industries controlling and polluting that part of the commonwealth prior to signing his executive order curbing data center development in the state.
“We have a long history in Pennsylvania of industry running roughshod over our communities to make a buck – that stops with me,” Shapiro said. “Archbald is one of many communities experiencing this.”
Shortly after Shapiro signed his executive order, his campaign released an attack ad highlighting the moments when Garrity praised data center development throughout the commonwealth.
Garrity’s campaign declined to provide comment.
