Pennsylvania Rep. Rob Bresnahan is promoting a bill to give data center-wary municipalities greater control over whether the facilities can be built, a message featured in a new television ad the Republican congressman is running in the Scranton and Wilkes-Barre area.
But in the past, Bresnahan has taken an overtly friendly stance toward data centers, calling them potential “catalysts for economic growth” in Northeastern Pennsylvania last year.
And he continues to hold investments in a range of companies positioned to benefit from the industry’s continued growth. Those include firms that own and operate data centers, invest in their development and supply infrastructure, and many of the nation’s largest tech firms.
Bresnahan’s campaign did not answer questions about his stock holdings, but campaign spokesperson Samantha Bullock said in a statement: “Favoring local control over data center development does not make someone anti-investment. It shows that they support the will of the people, and in fact it is important and responsible to consider the blue-collar jobs and economic development that might benefit a region like Northeastern Pennsylvania when addressing and legislating this issue.”
Many of Bresnahan’s holdings are in large companies that are part of the S&P 500 and other major stock indices, and the tech and data center-related investments make up just part of his multimillion-dollar investment portfolio. Bresnahan has repeatedly said financial advisers manage his portfolio and he has no input in his trades.
According to a financial disclosure filed in August, Bresnahan owns between roughly $19,005 and $110,000 worth of stock in four companies with direct ties to the data center industry.
Among them are Equinix, Digital Realty Trust and Iron Mountain, which operate large-scale data centers. Bresnahan also owns stock in SBA Communications, a wireless communications company whose subsidiary SBA Edge operates a handful of regional data centers and deploys small, modular data centers.
Bresnahan’s portfolio also includes investments in companies that supply the chips, networking equipment, semiconductor manufacturing tools and software that underpin the rapid growth of artificial intelligence and data centers. According to his financial disclosure, those holdings are worth between roughly $804,024 and $2.04 million.
Those investments include stakes in NVIDIA, Advanced Micro Devices, Micron Technology, Arista Networks, Ciena, Applied Materials, Lam Research, Cadence Design Systems, Synopsys, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Cisco Systems, Broadcom Inc. and Credo Technology. Politico first reported his purchase of Credo stock in January.
And Bresnahan reported holdings in several of the large technology companies driving the industry’s expansion. His disclosure shows between roughly $777,000 and $1.78 million invested in major technology firms that build, operate or lease large amounts of data center capacity. Those holdings include Amazon, Alphabet, Meta Platforms and Oracle, all of which have invested heavily in data center infrastructure as demand for AI computing has surged.
Disclosures show Bresnahan also holds between $15,001 and $50,000 in Blackstone Inc., one of the world’s largest investment firms, which in July 2025 announced data center-related energy investments in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Data centers have become one of the most contentious development issues in Pennsylvania, as the artificial intelligence industry’s insatiable need for computing power causes demand for the facilities to surge. An August 2026 poll from Franklin & Marshall College found that nearly four in five Pennsylvania voters opposed having a data center built in their community.
That opposition has grown alongside a surge of proposed development, particularly in Northeastern Pennsylvania, where regional economic development officials said earlier this year that roughly 29 data center projects were under consideration or in planning stages.
Amid that local apprehension, Bresnahan introduced a bill in early June that would give municipalities greater authority over whether data centers can be built in their communities. The bill has not since advanced.
“Northeastern Pennsylvania is our land and our home, but to big data, we’re just land and dollar signs,” Bresnahan said in the new ad, which aired in the region on Wednesday and Thursday, according to AdImpact. “I wrote the bill that makes data centers get local approval before construction and protects our communities when billion dollar corporations try to fight us.”
Last year, Bresnahan struck a markedly different tone. In April 2025, he told the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader he was “pleased to hear that companies are looking to Northeastern Pennsylvania for their data centers, which can serve as catalysts for economic growth and technological innovation for our region as we work towards fostering a 22nd century workforce.”
In a statement to CBS News, Bullock said that Bresnahan’s “legislation is consistent with his longstanding stance in favor of local control.”
Bullock also said that Bresnahan’s Democratic opponent for his House seat, Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, has “a record on the subject that needs to be scrutinized.” She cited a July Scranton City Council meeting, in which Councilman Sean McAndrew said that a zoning ordinance for data centers initially proposed by Cognetti’s administration had been stalled for months without updates. That same day, Cognetti launched her own ad about the need to regulate data centers.
Cognetti’s latest financial disclosure shows that she does not currently hold any individual stocks, although she has investments in retirement accounts, diversified mutual funds and index funds.
CBS News has reached out to Cognetti’s team for comment.
Financial disclosures show Bresnahan holds an extensive multimillion-dollar portfolio that includes real estate, private business interests, municipal bonds and publicly traded securities. His single largest reported asset is in his family’s company, Kuharchik Construction, at between $5 million and $25 million.
During his 2024 campaign, Bresnahan pledged to support legislation banning congressional stock trading, arguing lawmakers should not be allowed to buy and sell stocks while voting on legislation affecting those companies. After taking office, he introduced his own stock-trading ban bill, but the measure has not advanced. Meanwhile, Bresnahan’s disclosed trades since entering office rank him seventh among members of Congress, according to Capitol Trader, with more than 500 transactions reported.
