Nevada should not be for sale (Op-Ed)
By Matthew Fonken, candidate for Nevada U.S. Congressional District 2
When Reno residents showed up to demand answers about data centers, they were not standing in the way of progress. They were asking a question that should come before any major project gets a green light: Who is this being built for, and who will pay the real cost?
Reno was right to hit pause. But this fight is not just about data centers. It is about a political system that too often gives corporations the first meeting, the first draft, and the first chance to profit, while everyone else gets three minutes at a microphone when the deal already feels half done.
That is the money conflict.
People in Nevada see the pattern. Rent goes up. Groceries go up. Health care is harder to afford. Utility bills keep climbing. When industries seek land, water, or tax breaks, the government should listen to community voices and prioritize transparency.
Data centers may be part of the future, but Reno’s future should not be written by companies looking to privatize the profits and socialize the costs. Before any massive project moves forward, the public deserves independent water and power studies, full disclosure of what residents may be asked to pay for, binding community benefits, local labor standards, and real protections for ratepayers.
And this problem does not stop at City Hall. The same money problem, corruption, and industry influence are eating away at Congress, impacting policies that affect our water, land, and community well-being here in Nevada.
Congress fails to act on prescription drugs, housing, wages, climate, public lands, and utility costs, not because these problems are too complex, but because many officials are funded by the same industries they should regulate. Restoring integrity is key to rebuilding trust.
We need to attack corruption directly by banning members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children from trading individual stocks; End the lobbying revolving door, require real disclosure of major political spending, ban corporate PAC money, and expose dark money; Impose term limits so public service does not become a career ladder for people who write the rules, then cash in on them.
Getting money out of politics should not be a partisan issue. No voter should have to outbid a lobbyist to be heard. By organizing and demanding transparency, we can push for reforms that make our voices stronger than corporate influence.
When seniors cannot afford prescriptions, that is money in politics. When families cannot afford rent because housing is treated as an investment vehicle rather than a human need, that is money in politics. When communities are asked to absorb massive industrial projects without guaranteed public benefit, that is money in politics.
Nevada is not empty land waiting to be monetized. It is our home. Our water, our power, our public lands, and our communities should not be bargaining chips for whoever can afford the best lobbyist.
Nevada should not be for sale. Not to data centers. Not to dark money. Not to anyone.
Matthew Fonken is a Democratic candidate for Congress in NV-02, running to protect public lands, lower costs, and put people before corporate money.
