Data centers lost the midterms

The Verge · Lauren Feiner · 2026-11-04 16:05 UTC

Data center backlash became a driving theme of many battleground races, and the subject of dozens of ballot measures.

Data center developers are poised to face a more restrictive building environment after voters across the country voted in candidates who favor moratoriums and ballot measures that put more obstacles on their expansion, delivering a stinging blow to a central pillar of the AI industry.

Of voters polled by NBC News on Election Day, 76 percent said they opposed data centers in their communities. Dozens of local communities voted directly to restrict development through ballot measures. And upset winners like Texas Democratic Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa and Michigan’s Democratic Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed support moratoriums on development.

It’s hard to draw a direct line from data center backlash to the election of any of these candidates, and there were still some races where candidates who favored more limited restrictions on data centers prevailed. Republican Rep. Byron Donalds, who previously lauded development in Florida, was elected as governor, and Iowa’s Democratic Governor-elect Rob Sand opposed a moratorium that his challenger favored. But even these candidates were forced to engage on data center issues during their campaigns, and will be likely to face continued pressure to put at least some guardrails in place.

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