President Donald Trump used a campaign rally in southwestern Ohio on Saturday to defend the data centers that power artificial intelligence projects, stepping into an issue that has become a political liability in races across the country. The stop was part of his midterm tour, on which he is insisting his party will keep its majorities in Congress despite steep political headwinds.

Trump devoted several minutes of the rally to promoting his administration's actions on data centers, saying he was seeking to ensure they “benefit local communities,” and praised Republican Sen. Jon Husted for an ill-fated attempt to advance legislation on the issue.

“Look, there's so much money to be made for Ohio. You can't just turn them off. They'll go to China,” Trump said, repeating a defense of the facilities he has made before. The crowd, which had reacted enthusiastically as the president discussed other policies, was far more muted during the data centers remarks.

The massive warehouse campuses that generate energy for AI projects — facilities filled with the servers that train and run AI models and that consume large amounts of electricity around the clock — have become a toxic political issue, drawing bipartisan opposition in contests nationwide, with voters concerned about their impact on electricity prices, farmland and water supplies. The issue is especially acute in Ohio, where Husted has been repeatedly attacked for his role in attracting data centers to the state as lieutenant governor.

A 32-day sprint to Election Day

Trump is embarking on what he says will be a 32-day blitz ahead of the Nov. 3 elections, having hit the deeply Republican states of Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama this week before pivoting to Ohio, a battleground state that is home to one of the top-tier Senate races of this cycle.

Husted, who was appointed to fill the Senate vacancy left by now-Vice President JD Vance, is running to win the seat outright. There is likely no path to a Senate majority for Democrats without flipping Ohio, where former three-term Sen. Sherrod Brown is trying to return to the Senate after losing to Republican Bernie Moreno two years ago.

Democrats have listed Ohio, along with states such as North Carolina and Maine, as key races for winning control of the Senate since last year. This past week, the head of the Senate GOP's campaign arm said Ohio is among 10 battleground races that are “within striking distance.”

“The good news for us is that Jon Husted is a closer,” Sen. Tim Scott, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told reporters. “We're seeing the gap that was there between the two candidates, which was just a few points, now it is right at a dead-even race. So this is as tight as ticks, as we say in South Carolina.”

Economic anxiety in the background

At his rallies, Trump has been trying to convince voters that the economy is better than they feel it is, even though polls show Americans are frustrated with his handling of it The high cost of living, including gas prices elevated by Trump's war on Iran, is a top issue in the Dayton area as well. Just days before the rally, nearly 1,400 people were laid off from a truck factory in nearby Springfield.

“Your state is booming. Every — I hate to say it — every state is booming,” Trump insisted Saturday. “They're all booming.”

The rally comes as Republicans worry that Husted's campaign has failed to adequately catch fire with voters in the Republican-dominated state. Brown and allied groups have hammered Husted over his data-centers record, and the NRSC has pinpointed the issue as a political vulnerability.

Legislative push stalls

This past week, the GOP-controlled Senate tried to advance legislation sponsored by Husted that would ask utility regulators — the agencies that set electricity rates — to effectively charge large power users more, as consumers struggle with high energy costs. The measure was blocked by nearly all Democrats. The dispute over who should bear the cost of powering data centers has turned the technology debate into a pocketbook issue, tying the Senate contest to the cost-of-living anxieties Trump has spent his tour trying to counter.

“You got to remember, Sherrod Brown was for data centers, and Jon Husted is for data centers being responsible,” Scott told reporters this week. “If a community doesn't want them, he doesn't want them either.”

Trump, meanwhile, has become one of data centers' most vocal proponents, shrugging aside voter concerns and arguing that the United States cannot cede advancements in AI to China.

“Senator Jon Husted gave billions in tax breaks to Big Tech to make sure they would build their data centers in Ohio,” Brown wrote on X on Friday, ahead of Trump's visit. “Now, he's making Ohioans foot the bill.”

Brown's campaign has also hammered Husted over donations he received from retail magnate Les Wexner, who once employed the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Husted has donated his remaining Wexner contributions to an anti-human trafficking charity.

Protests outside, enthusiasm inside

Several Epstein-themed signs dotted the area outside the Vandalia school where the rally was held, as more than a hundred protesters lined the road carrying an array of anti-Trump and anti-Husted signs. Inside the school's gymnasium, however, the boisterous crowd — decked out in red “Make America Great Again” hats and “Trump 47” jerseys — greeted each Republican candidate enthusiastically as they awaited the president's arrival.

From the stage, Husted said the state had been through “hard times,” noting that his father had worked at a factory that closed down. But he said Republicans in the state had turned it around.

“We now have the most jobs and the lowest unemployment rate we've ever had in the history of Ohio,” he said.

A tight governor's race

In the Ohio governor's race, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy faces Democrat Dr. Amy Acton, the state's former COVID-era health director. A wealthy biotech entrepreneur and 2024 presidential candidate, Ramaswamy drew quick backing from Ohio Republicans thanks to his star appeal among conservatives and hopes of an easy victory in the Republican-dominated state. However, despite a massive fundraising lead and more than $12 million spent on campaign advertising, he is now locked in a close fight with Acton with weeks to go until Election Day.

“I'm so grateful to this state and to this country for giving a kid like me opportunities that would not have been available to my family in any other country on planet earth,” Ramaswamy said at the rally ahead of Trump's arrival, underscoring the dream story of his Indian immigrant family.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.