Analysis: Nagamine Draws Clear Lines on Data Centers While Block Lets His News Site Speak

Summary

Nagamine: a concrete policy stance. A data center proposal must have closed-loop water, a noise mitigation plan and its own power with no effect on the grid or on local residents, or it would not be considered.

Block: no position in his own name was found. The news site he founded and edits has welcomed the state’s largest data center project and criticized those who would pause the industry, which amounts to a tacit endorsement.

 Endorsement: the Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter confirmed its endorsement of Nagamine on Aug. 29.

 Caveat: Block’s stance is inferred from what his site publishes, not from a statement or a vote.

ALAMOGORDO — On data centers, the two candidates for House District 51 have given voters very different amounts to go on. Independent Grace Nagamine has laid out specific conditions a project must meet or not be considered. She also carries the endorsement of the Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter into the Nov. 3 election.

State Rep. John Block, R-Alamogordo, has not taken a position in his own name, as far as a search for this article found. The Piñon Post, the conservative news site he founded and edits, has done the talking. It has welcomed the industry’s largest New Mexico project and gone after the politicians who want to slow it.

Nagamine’s stand

Nagamine has said a data center proposal must meet three conditions or it would not be considered:

• A noise mitigation plan

• Self-sustaining power, separate from the grid, with no effect on electric rates for neighboring communities, small businesses or residents

• Closed-loop water use that does not draw on local aquifers or on areas already short of water

The position is conditional, not a ban. It stops short of the statewide moratorium that Democratic gubernatorial nominee Deb Haaland and some Doña Ana County legislators have proposed.

It fits the rest of her campaign. Her published platform calls water the district’s most urgent fight and pledges to pursue state funding for Alamogordo’s water and sewer rebuild.

In a September video reported by Alamogordo Town News, she listed high electric prices among the issues she said the race should be about.

The Sierra Club endorsement

The Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter confirmed its endorsement of Nagamine in an Aug. 29 email from Richard Barish, the chapter’s political chair. The email followed a phone call and said she was free to announce it at any time.

Barish thanked her for “stepping up to run for the legislature” and for her commitment to the district’s residents. He said the chapter would list its endorsements in the October-December issue of its quarterly newsletter.

The chapter’s own position on the issue is public. In a Sept. 17 statement, it said it supports a moratorium on data centers until enforceable guardrails are in place, citing climate pollution, water and electric bills.

Nagamine’s conditions address the same concerns, water and electric rates among them, without calling for a moratorium.

Block and the Piñon Post

The site’s author page identifies Block as its founder and editor. Its data center articles carry a “Piñon Post” staff byline however he is owner and editor responsible for all content decisions. 

A June 23 article on Project Jupiter, the Oracle and OpenAI campus in Doña Ana County, said the project could become “a major win for southern New Mexico” if it delivers on its promises. It answered water concerns with Oracle’s figure of about 11 million gallons of non-potable water in closed-loop systems. It acknowledged drought, said New Mexico should grow, and called for transparency and long-term protections trusting the sponsoring company statements without challenge.

Since mid-September the site has focused on Haaland. A Sept. 27 article set her moratorium pledge against at least $117,200 in contributions it tied to Oracle and industry executives. The same article said there is no evidence the money changed her positions.

Searchlight New Mexico reported that Oracle and BorderPlex also gave a little more than $51,000 to Republicans, including $10,000 each to Rep. Nicole Chavez and Sen. Larry Scott.

Block has spoken about the race, if not about data centers. In a fundraising email reported by the Santa Fe New Mexican, he said his opponent is backed by a deep-pocketed, far-left political action committee however she is an Independent and has reported support from both sides of the isle including an endorsement from former Republican Mayor of Alamogordo, Susan Payne. 

How this comparison was made for this article.

The two candidates are measured here on different kinds of evidence, and readers should weigh them differently.

Nagamine’s position comes from her own stated conditions and her published platform.

Block’s comes from what the site he edits has chosen to publish. That is an editorial record on a property he uses to attack his political opponents and is well known as his mouthpiece.

On that evidence, the difference is one of starting point. The Piñon Post owned by John Block begins from growth and treats water and power as questions to settle along the way.

Nagamine would require her conditions to be met before a project is considered.

The two overlap in places. The June article cited on-site fuel cells and closed-loop, non-potable water, features that resemble two of Nagamine’s conditions. It did not address noise or neighbors’ electric rates.

The question is not yet local. Project Jupiter is in Santa Teresa, outside House District 51. Otero County has no approved large data center, though commissioners directed staff in March to explore the idea, Alamogordo Town News reported.

Conclusion

Nagamine has given voters a concrete policy stance. A data center proposal would need closed-loop water, a noise mitigation plan and its own power, with no effect on the grid and no cost to local residents. Without those, it would not be considered.

Block has not matched that in his own name. He has left the question unaddressed while the site he controls presents Project Jupiter as an economic opportunity and aims its criticism at those who would pause the industry. Taken together, that amounts to a tacit endorsement by John Block of data centers, delivered through his publication instead of his office.

That conclusion rests on inference, and Block can settle it. He could say how he would vote on a statewide pause and what conditions, if any, he would require of a data center in Otero County.

Nagamine has lead with a concrete policy stance where is the leadership from John Block? 

Sources

• Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter endorsement email from Richard Barish, political chair, Aug. 29, 2026; provided to the author

• Nagamine’s data center conditions: provided to the author; date and venue to be added

• Grace Nagamine campaign platform

• Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter statement on data centers, Sept. 17, 2026

• Piñon Post, June 23, 2026: Project Jupiter article

• Piñon Post, Sept. 27, 2026: Haaland lobbyist article

• Piñon Post author page for John Block• Searchlight New Mexico: Oracle disclosure and campaign contributions

• Albuquerque Journal: Aug. 11 moratorium hearing• Santa Fe New Mexican: Roundhouse Report on Block’s fundraising email

• Alamogordo Town News: data centers special report

• Alamogordo Town News, September 2026

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