National companies and CEOs with ties to the massive Project Jupiter data center in Doña Ana County have poured tens of thousands of dollars into gubernatorial candidate Deb Haaland’s campaign.
Oracle, one of the companies involved with Project Jupiter, contributed $12,400 to Haaland, the Democratic nominee for governor, according to campaign finance filings released Monday. The reports cover campaign activity from June 28 through Sept. 7.
Individuals whose identifying details match those of leaders at Oracle and data center construction firm Clayco also made sizable donations to Haaland amounting to at least $74,800 — even though Haaland has been critical of their industry on the campaign trail.
“I just believe very strongly that data centers don’t have the best interests of our community at heart,” Haaland said during a Democratic primary debate in May.
The same companies and individuals did not donate to Haaland’s opponent, Republican Gregg Hull, over the same period even though his public statements on data centers have generally been friendlier to the industry than Haaland’s. Although Hull has called for more regulation of data centers, he has said he opposes a moratorium on them, something some Democratic lawmakers have said they plan to introduce in the 2027 legislative session.
Haaland supports a moratorium on new data center development “until we have strong, reliable guardrails in law and in practice,” spokesperson Hannah Menchhoff wrote in a statement Tuesday.
“Like many New Mexicans, Deb Haaland shares concerns about protecting our water, air, and land and the lack of transparency involved with data center projects,” Menchhoff wrote.
“Deb has been clear with this industry — their lack of transparency efforts in Doña Ana County is alarming,” she added.
Plans for the $165 billion Project Jupiter data center campus — intended to host artificial intelligence infrastructure for companies like Oracle and OpenAI — have spurred protests, lawsuits and fierce pushback over concerns about its environmental impact and transparency.
A spokesperson for Oracle, Julia Allyn Fishel, said the company’s $12,400 contribution is “part of our participation in the political process” but didn’t comment on the individual CEOs’ donations.
“We believe in open dialogue with New Mexico’s leaders and candidates about economic opportunity and responsible development. We look forward to continuing that engagement,” she said.
Haaland’s overall fundraising haul has dwarfed Hull’s. Haaland, a former congresswoman and U.S. interior secretary, reported raising $3.4 million in the latest reporting period and a closing balance of $3.4 million.
Hull, a former Rio Rancho mayor, reported raising more than $943,000 in the same reporting period, leaving him with about $509,000 cash on hand.
Data center leader largesse
Individuals who appear to be associated with Clayco — a prominent data center construction firm partnering with Oracle and STACK Infrastructure to build Project Jupiter — donated at least $50,000 to Haaland.
A spokesperson for Clayco didn’t respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Three individuals who appear to have Clayco associations donated $10,000 each Aug. 31; two donated $10,000 each Sept. 7.
A donor named Robert G. Clark, who is listed in the campaign filing as an “executive chairman” with a St. Louis address, gave $10,000 on Aug. 31. That matches details of the St. Louis-based Robert G. Clark who is founder and executive chairman of Clayco.
Anthony Johnson, whose listed address is a suburb of St. Louis and is listed as “CEO” in the campaign finance filing, gave $10,000 the same day. That matches details of the based CEO of Clayco, Anthony Johnson.
Ryan McGuire, a “president” with a Manhattan Beach, Calif., address, gave $10,000 the same day. An individual with the same name, whose location is listed on Linkedin as Manhattan Beach, is a president at Clayco.
Justin Lienemann, whose address is listed as a suburb of St. Louis and is listed as in finance, gave $10,000 a week later. That matches details of the chief financial officer at Clayco, whose LinkedIn lists his location as the same St. Louis suburb.
Shawn Clark, who donated $10,000 the same day as Lienemann, lists as his address the Chicago outpost of Clayco. He is a chief strategy officer for Clayco.
And at least two people who appear to be associated with Oracle contributed $12,400 each — the maximum contribution amount allowed.
Clayton Magouyrk of Nashville, Tenn., listed as a CEO, donated $12,400 last month. A person by the same name is a co-CEO of Oracle, with a LinkedIn location of Nashville.
And Michael Sicilia of Duxbury, Mass., a CEO, donated $12,400 last month. That is also the name of Oracle’s co-CEO, who a news outlet wrote lives in Massachusetts.
Haaland’s record
In a video posted to social media by the activist group Revolutionary Action NM earlier this week, Haaland was pressed at a campaign event in Los Lunas by attendee Owen Wolf about whether she would support a data center ban. She struck a cautious tone.
“Right now, the Legislature is working on guardrails that they want to place on data centers,” she said, adding, “I want to see what the Legislature comes up with because they would be the ones to write and vote on a law that would essentially speak to this issue.”
“I don’t have the power to stop Project Jupiter,” Haaland said in the video.
Wolf, reached by phone Tuesday, said the moratorium proposal “feels like political lip service.”
“These corporations who are putting in these data centers are very good at weaseling around these guardrails, and I don’t think anything short of an outright ban is going to stop them,” Wolf said.
Haaland plans to release a “data center accountability plan” Thursday and discuss her proposal in more detail at a news conference.
Other activists expressed misgivings about Haaland accepting money from Oracle.
“If Deb Haaland wants New Mexicans to trust that she’ll hold the AI data center industry accountable, the relevant questions are simple: which corporate interests have contributed to her campaign, and how much have they given?” Esperanza Chairez, the policy campaign manager for Youth United for Climate Crisis Action, a group that has prominently opposed Project Jupiter, wrote in a text message.
