A candidate with ties to a Southern California data center developer is wading into a major Imperial Valley election as the company seeks to build a massive $10 billion data center complex in the region.
Late last week, Carlos Duran, who has identified himself as a “Community Information Representative” for Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing (IVCM), filed to run for the Imperial Irrigation District’s board of directors. The district, also known as IID, is the region’s main water and energy provider.
IVCM needs IID to agree to provide power to their project. In court filings, the company said it stands to make billions of dollars renting out the data center to a “hyperscaler,” which describes some of the nation’s largest tech companies.
But IID has not yet agreed to provide that power, an agency spokesperson confirmed to KPBS this week. In January, IVCM accused the agency in court of unfairly prioritizing a competitor’s projects and taking part in a campaign to sabotage their project.
Now Duran, the company representative, is seeking to unseat one of IID’s five directors, Alex Cardenas, in the upcoming June primary election.
In an email to KPBS, IVCM Chief Executive Officer Sebastian Rucci said he intended to support candidates who would advance responsible economic development, including their data center project.
“In my view Carlos Duran is an excellent candidate,” Rucci wrote. “He is not running to spare the data center of its obligations, on the contrary, he has my blessing to secure every voluntary improvement from our project.”
Duran declined an interview request, citing IVCM’s lawsuit against KPBS. (IVCM is currently suing KPBS over our previous reporting, alleging that we defamed them, portrayed them in a false light and interfered with their economic interests.)
In a statement Wednesday, a lawyer for IID denied some of IVCM’s allegations against the agency. Cardenas did not respond to an interview request.
One of the Valley’s most powerful agencies
IID is one the most powerful government bodies in the Imperial Valley, rivaled only by the county government.
The agency oversees the generations-old claims of Imperial Valley farmers to water from the Colorado River. It also delivers electricity to more than 160,000 customers throughout the Imperial and Coachella Valleys.
The race comes amid urgent talks over the Colorado River’s future.
Negotiators for seven states — including an IID board member — are trying to broker a deal for the drought-stricken river, which provides water to much of the Western U.S., tribes and large sections of northern Mexico.
As a California irrigation district, IID’s directors are each elected by voters in specific regions, or “divisions,” of the Imperial Valley.
Cardenas, the director Duran is running against, represents Division 1, which includes Westmoreland and parts of El Centro. He was first elected to the Board in 2018.
In a public Facebook post announcing his reelection campaign earlier this year, Cardenas said he had fought for “responsible economic development that strengthens — not burdens — our community.”
Cardenas is the executive director of a nonprofit that advocates for children in the Imperial County juvenile court system, according to his campaign filings. He also works as an information officer at a healthcare clinic in El Centro.
Duran is a local journalist and video creator. He has a Master’s degree in American history and is currently pursuing a PhD in public administration, according to his public LinkedIn profile.
More recently, Duran has issued at least one statement on behalf of the data center developer, identifying himself as a media contact and “Community Information Representative” for IVCM.
Duran did not report any sources of income in his candidate filings. The categories of income candidates are required to report under state law are limited based on the race and jurisdiction in which they are running.
Rucci did not respond to questions about whether Duran receives financial compensation from IVCM.
Developer accuses IID of sabotage
Duran’s decision comes after IVCM accused IID in a federal lawsuit earlier this year of slow-walking their approval process, imposing unreasonable financial requests and taking part in a coordinated campaign to spark public outrage.
The lawsuit is against the City of Imperial and does not name IID or any agency officials as defendants.
IVCM has been trying to secure an agreement with IID to provide power for its data center project since Jan. 2025, according to the agency.
The company has paid IID to conduct several preliminary technical studies. It has also proposed a purchasing agreement for energy that it says would net the agency $22 million in annual revenue.
But in court filings, IVCM alleged that IID General Manager Jamie Asbury delayed important meetings and energy studies, directing staff to prioritize the energy firm ZGlobal.
According to court filings, Asbury told IVCM it would need to prepay for 15 years of energy fees, a total of more than $4 billion. IVCM also alleged that Asbury later said the company had misrepresented data related to its plans for generators and would need to start the application process over.
The company’s lawsuit also accused current IID Board Chairwoman Karin Eugenio of using her platform as an elected official to attack the project.
In an email Wednesday, IID General Counsel Wayne Strumpfer said many of IVCM’s allegations about IID were not true.
Asbury did not answer questions. Eugenio did not respond to a request for comment.
In a statement to KPBS late last year, IID spokesperson Robert Schettler said the agency had a responsibility to protect grid reliability for existing customers when it considered new applications for power.
“IID has an obligation to serve any customer who desires to locate in its designated service territory,” Schettler wrote in December. “However, IID’s obligation to serve is not without bounds.”
Campaign raises questions for elections expert
It’s nothing new for businesses to insert themselves into local elections, including in Imperial County.
That’s because the U.S. Supreme Court has decided that campaign spending is a form of political speech, said Brian Adams, a political science professor at San Diego State University who studies local elections and how money influences them.
In 2023, campaign filings show IID Director JB Hamby received a $10,000 donation from a company with the same address as Controlled Thermal Resources, one of the major energy firms exploring lithium development around the Salton Sea.
Later that year, Imperial County Supervisor Ryan Kelley received a $5,200 donation from an Australia-based lithium company, according to campaign filings. Kelley also received at least $9,000 from donors who identified themselves as farmers.
Still, Duran’s campaign is unusual for a few reasons, Adams said.
For one, it’s less common to see a company step into elections before they actually have a business operation up-and-running, he said. It’s usually the more-established businesses that weigh in to defend their interests.
Typically, these businesses will also back someone who’s already active in local politics. It’s rare for a company to support a candidate who has previously worked for them.
The move raises questions about whether IVCM will spend money to back Duran’s campaign, Adams said. In local elections with low turnout, sending campaign postcards in the mail and paying for social media ads can make a big difference.
In the last election for the IID Division 1 seat, fewer than 4,000 voters cast ballots in the race. Cardenas won by a margin of under 60 votes.
Duran had not yet reported receiving any campaign donations as of Wednesday.
The developer does have a legal right to put money into the election if they decide to do so, Adams said.
“There's nothing illegal about a corporation spending a lot of money supporting a candidate who also happens to be their employee,” he said.
