A candidate backed by a Southern California data center developer has lost his race for a seat on the board of the Imperial Valley’s powerful public water and power utility.
Early results from Tuesday’s primary election show voters in El Centro and Westmoreland overwhelmingly rejected Carlos Duran’s bid for the Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors. Instead, they voted to reelect incumbent director Alex Cardenas, who has served in the role since 2018.
As of Friday morning, Cardenas had over 1,700 votes, nearly double Duran’s total of approximately 900 votes. In a phone call, Cardenas said he saw the results as a sign that voters valued experience, ethics and transparency.
“The voters and the rate payers and water users spoke loud and clear,” Cardenas said. “They want a transparent government that doesn't placate to special interests.”
IID is the primary provider of power and water in the region. The utility delivers electricity to more than 160,000 customers throughout the Imperial and Coachella Valleys.
The agency also oversees the generations-old claims of Imperial Valley farmers to water from the Colorado River and is currently engaged in urgent talks over the river basin’s future.
Duran’s defeat was a blow for Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing (IVCM), the Huntington Beach-based developer backing his campaign.
The company is trying to build a 950,000-square-foot artificial intelligence data center complex in the Imperial Valley. It had spent $30,000 to support Duran, a local journalist and online personality who had previously worked for the company as a spokesperson.
Cardenas, by comparison, raised around $20,000 from a mix of small donors, farmers and loans from himself.
The coalition of residents who oppose data center development in the Imperial Valley celebrated Duran’s defeat. Francisco Leal said Duran had sharply criticized IID’s current leaders but hadn’t explained his own plans.
“He drilled really hard on just bashing and talking bad about his opponent,” said Leal, a resident of the City of Imperial and a lead organizer of the coalition, known as NIMBY Imperial. “When he should have been campaigning on ways to improve and do good things for the community.”
Duran did not respond to an interview request.
The race for IID’s Division 1 seat has become one of the most prominent examples of how the nationwide data center boom and surging opposition have emerged as a driving political force in the Imperial Valley this year.
Developers such as IVCM have looked to the Valley for its energy infrastructure and availability of industrial land. Late last year, IVCM Chief Executive Officer Sebastian Rucci told KPBS he also hoped to provide tax revenue and some jobs for the region, which has one of the highest unemployment rates in California.
But IVCM needs the utility to agree to provide energy to get their project up and running. In March, Rucci told KPBS that Duran would support their plans if elected.
“In my view Carlos Duran is an excellent candidate,” Rucci said in an email. “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’s candidacy, however, alarmed many Imperial Valley residents who have deep concerns about the proposed data center, which could need nearly double the amount of power that the entire county used in 2024 and 750,000 gallons of water per day.
The company has prioritized speed in its efforts to build its massive AI computing complex between the cities of Imperial and El Centro, designing it to avoid an in-depth environmental analysis.
Rucci did not respond to an interview request Thursday.
Some other utility officials said they were excited and relieved by the results. Earlier this year, IID Chairwoman Karin Eugenio said she saw Duran’s campaign as an open bid for political power in the Imperial Valley.
“I was terrified,” Eugenio told KPBS Thursday. “What that would do to the integrity of our board and how that could compromise the safety of our county.”
Eugenio, an outspoken critic of IVCM’s data center project, was also up for reelection this week. She currently holds a strong lead over her opponent, Eric Rodriguez.
