Democratic candidates in several key Senate races are breaking with a long-standing taboo among liberal voters: Theyre increasingly embracing nuclear power as tech companies, banks and governments pour money into building new reactors to shore up a U.S. electrical grid thats heaving under pressure from data centers, air conditioning and extreme weather.

Asked during last weeks televised debate against Republican Kari Lake what he would do to deal with Arizonas rising temperatures, Ruben Gallego, the Democratic nominee for the states open U.S. Senate seat, pitched just one big solution: more nuclear power .

In Michigans final U.S. Senate debate this week, Democrat Elissa Slotkin listed nuclear reactors among the energy sources into which she said she wants to increase U.S. government investment.

In an interview with HuffPost on Wednesday, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, the Miami-area Democrat challenging Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), called atomic power a good first step in transitioning to greener energy and to lower the cost for Floridians in the state.

I would support nuclear, she said.

Colin Allred, the Texas Democrat making a spirited challenge to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), confirmed his support on Friday for building more reactors.

Texas is a proud energy state, and in the Senate, I will always work to keep it that way, he said in a statement to HuffPost. That includes responsible oil and gas production, renewable energy like wind and solar, as well as nuclear power.

In virtually every democracy among the 32 countries with nuclear power plants including Canada , the Netherlands , and South Korea left-of-center parties traditionally oppose atomic energy, while those on the political right generally support it.