Overview:
- 31st District Michigan House candidates Laura Perry, a Republican, and Shannon Dare Wayne, a Democrat, both support repealing data center tax breaks and raising hazardous waste tipping fees.
- The district includes Van Buren Township, home to the Wayne Disposal landfill that received radioactive waste from Manhattan Project sites, and a proposed 1-gigawatt Google data center.
- Data centers have attracted significant pushback in the district, which includes Belleville, Milan, and Dundee.
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The retirement of state Rep. Reggie Miller, a Van Buren Township Democrat, leaves the race wide open in the 31st House district — home to the Wayne Disposal landfill and a proposed hyperscale Google data center.
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Why it matters
The winner of Michigan's 31st state House district race could help decide whether the state repeals tax breaks for data centers, and whether hazardous waste safeguards are strengthened. The legislator will represent a district that includes the Wayne Disposal hazardous waste landfill and multiple proposed data centers.
Who's making public decisions
Voters in Michigan's 31st House district will decide between Laura Perry and Shannon Dare Wayne in the Nov. 3 election.
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Watch for the election results in this competitive race that could help determine which party controls the Michigan House of Representatives.
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Miller vocally opposed the landfill’s expansion and pushed legislation to place guardrails on data center development.
Republican business owner Laura Perry and Democratic Milan City Council Member Shannon Dare Wayne are vying to replace Miller, who announced her retirement in April. The district includes Belleville, Milan, and Dundee.
The ability of Perry and Dare Wayne to connect with voters on hot-button issues like data centers and shipments of radioactive waste to Wayne Disposal could be critical in a district that Miller won by a slim margin in 2024.
The outcome of the race could help determine which party controls the Michigan House in the next session. The control of the House, which has a Republican majority heading into the Nov. 3 election, is a toss-up, according to the nonpartisan Center for Politics.
House district home to Wayne Disposal, proposed Google data center
Photo by Brian Allnutt.
In 2024, residents learned the Wayne Disposal hazardous waste landfill in Van Buren Township was receiving radioactive waste from Manhattan Project-era sites managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The group Michigan Against Atomic Waste organized to fight the dumping, and four municipalities successfully sued to block the shipments, with Wayne County intervening in the lawsuit. Landfill owner Republic Services appealed the court’s permanent injunction in June.
Data centers have attracted significant pushback in the district.
DTE Energy and Google secured approval from Michigan’s utility regulator Oct. 1 for the power contracts behind a 1-gigawatt data center project in Van Buren Township.
Developers have also proposed data centers in Augusta Township and Dundee Township.
A DTE natural gas power plant is planned in Milan Township. Environmental advocates say DTE is proposing new natural gas plants to fulfill data center demand, and DTE says the facilities are replacing the outgoing, coal-fired Monroe Power Plant.
Candidates support data center guardrails, tax break repeal
Van Buren Township resident Courtenay Hall said Miller is a fighter on environmental issues, and praised her engagement on the Google data center.
Miller endorsed Dare Wayne in the race, which Hall said reflects well on the candidate.
“But I haven’t seen anything on Shannon’s page that speaks specifically to the hyperscale data center,” Hall said.
Dare Wayne’s website highlights priorities like lowering costs, housing affordability, and health care. It doesn’t specifically mention data centers.
Perry has been vocal on the data center issue, Hall noted.
Perry’s website said she supports a one-year data center moratorium, arguing that Michiganders have “serious, well-founded concerns about data centers, including preserving farmland, energy and water usage, strain on local infrastructure, noise levels, and other environmental consequences.”
The data center moratorium is intended to put regulations in place, like preventing data centers from shifting infrastructure and electricity costs onto families and small businesses, Perry told Planet Detroit in an email.
Independent reviews of data center water use — including drinking water protections, noise limits, and appropriate setbacks for facilities — are needed, the GOP candidate said.
“I support repealing these tax breaks immediately,” Perry said of Michigan’s data center tax incentives. “If elected, it’ll be one of the first bills I introduce.”
Hall, who serves as resolutions chair for the Michigan Democratic Party’s Progressive Caucus, said she won’t vote for Perry or other Republicans, especially in the Trump era.
“I’m seeing her with people that I certainly do not align with, and my values do not align with,” she said of Perry.
Dare Wayne did not express support for a data center moratorium in an emailed statement. She said she favors strong, enforceable safeguards that include ensuring developers pay the cost of needed energy and infrastructure upgrades.
The Democratic candidate supports water protections, public disclosure of water and energy use, and meaningful local input before projects are approved, she said.
“I also support repealing the state’s data center tax breaks,” Dare Wayne said. “We should focus on lowering costs for families, not subsidizing large corporations.”
Candidates call for higher tipping fees, hazardous waste protections
Van Buren Township resident Jeneen Rippey, president and co-founder of Michigan Against Atomic Waste, which seeks stringent safety measures for hazardous and radioactive waste, said the group will submit questions to Perry, Dare Wayne, and several other office seekers.
The questions could cover political contributions from the waste industry, freshwater protections, and candidates’ willingness to work in a bipartisan manner to pass legislation to enact safeguards, Rippey said.
“I want candidates that are going to help us for our cause,” she said.
The Republic Services Inc. Employees for Better Govt. PAC made no direct contributions to either state House candidate, but donated to committees that supported their campaigns.
For example, Federal Election Commission records show Republic’s employee political action committee donated $1,000 to the Michigan House Democratic Fund, which donated to Dare Wayne’s campaign.
The Republic PAC donated $2,500 to the House Republican Campaign Committee and $2,000 to the Schuette Majority Fund, which are among the committees that donated to the Perry campaign.
“Contributions to other political committees do not change my commitment to protecting our community or holding Republic Services accountable,” Perry said.
Republic Services spokesperson Roman Blahoski said in a statement that the company engages politically to advance policies that “support safe, sustainable and reliable environmental services.”
The employee PAC supports candidates and initiatives that align with the company’s business objectives, regardless of political party affiliation, he said.
Perry said she opposes the Wayne Disposal expansion and efforts to bring Manhattan Project-era waste to the facility. She supports increasing hazardous waste tipping fees and using the funds raised for stronger inspections, monitoring, and emergency preparedness.
“A higher fee cannot become a permission slip to bring in more dangerous waste,” Perry said. Better public notice over incoming waste and publicly accessible monitoring results are also needed, she said.
Dare Wayne told Planet Detroit she supports raising tipping fees and using the revenue to fund monitoring, enforcement, and inspections to protect communities and water resources.
Residents deserve to know what’s coming to Wayne Disposal and the state needs to hold operators accountable when they violate environmental protections, she said.
Dare Wayne opposes the expansion of Wayne Disposal and shipment of radioactive waste to the community.
“Residents shouldn’t have to shoulder more risk so a waste company can take in more business,” she said.
Data center backers make contributions in 31st District race
Dare Wayne and Perry received campaign donations from groups tied to data center development, either directly or through energy sales.
Perry’s January campaign finance filing shows a $1,500 donation from the Building Accountability Behind Experience PAC, which received support from regional grid operator ITC Holdings.
ITC submitted an application with DTE to Van Buren Township to build a high voltage substation and switching station for Google’s data center project.
An ITC spokesperson said its employee-funded PAC supports candidates and policymakers from both parties, and all donations are made in accordance with applicable rules and regulations.
Perry did not reply directly to questions about the contributions. She has not signed the Michigan League of Conservation Voters “No Utility Money Challenge,” which asks lawmakers and candidates to not knowingly accept more than $200 in total contributions from monopoly utility political PACs and lobbyists, executives, employee PACs, and other groups aligned with utility interests.
Perry said she will not accept donations from DTE and Consumers Energy.
DTE and Consumers representatives have previously said the companies participate in the political process in a transparent way that complies with applicable laws.
The donations are funded by employees and shareholders, not utility customers, according to DTE and Consumers.
Dare Wayne’s July and August filings show donations from unions that support data centers, which can create hundreds of short-term construction jobs.
Elevate Michigan PAC, to which DTE Energy has contributed, gave $12,250 to Dare Wayne’s campaign, a July filing shows. Dare Wayne has taken MLCV’s no utility money pledge.
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