As Democrats dominated the midterms Tuesday, data centers failed at the ballot box — an issue experts say will persist for future elections.
Across the U.S., bans or restrictions on constructing data centers that were on the ballot nearly all passed.
“I honestly believe it's not just a one-cycle thing,” said Christopher Lee, a Democratic political consultant in Nevada.
“If the industry doesn't deal with it, it's going to continue for the next two or three cycles, and it's going to undercut a lot of particularly GOP candidates.”
Jim Ronan, a professor in the political science department at Villanova University, said he was bombarded with political ads about data centers where he lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
“We're in the first district, which is one of the most competitive, and all we have been hearing for the last couple months is about data centers,” Ronan said.
“It's a very thorny issue right now.”
Democrat Bob Harvie flipped the seat in Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District, beating Republican incumbent Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick.
Data centers were a particularly hot issue in Texas. Joseph Lopez, a Texas-based GOP strategist and managing partner of the Prescient Group, said that Republican Gov. Greg Abbott “evolved sharply” from embracing data centers to pausing construction, and it “really goes to show just how serious of an issue this is.”
“I've told candidates, and what I tell other communication strategists, is I think psychologically data centers have become a flashpoint because they are this concrete local embodiment of the broader AI anxiety,” Lopez said
Abbott ended up losing re-election to Democrat Texas Rep. Gina Hinojosa, who pledged to put a moratorium on data center construction in the state — considered a bellwether for sentiment about the AI industry.
Democrat James Talarico, who pledged to impose stricter regulations on data center development while on the campaign trail, flipped the U.S. Senate seat in Texas he was competing for against Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Rachel O'Leary Carmona, executive director of Women's March and its political action committee, Women's March WIN, lives in Amarillo, Texas, and said the group had been campaigning against big tech and data centers. Women are disproportionately affected by trafficking at data center build sites because of a massive influx of mainly male construction workers, she said. Women also face job loss and exploitation from AI, she added.
"There's no aspect of this that does not touch and extract from women right now, so that's absolutely a feminist issue, and I think we saw a feminist uprising around it related to voting," O'Leary Carmona said.
"The people are speaking, and I think that there's deep concern about the unrestricted nature of AI and the way that it seems that it's been framed as inevitable, and I think that the people are putting the brakes on."
Georgia is another state where voters rebuked data centers. Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, who supported a moratorium on data centers due to environmental and cost issues, beat Republican Rick Jackson in the race for Georgia governor.
Democrats also gained control of the Georgia Public Service Commission, which regulates large load contracts with the Georgia Power Company, for the first time in decades.
“Folks are just concerned that we are moving very quickly, giving away tax breaks and building power plants for very wealthy companies, and there's just a lot of concern, not a lot of information to understand what the impact is,” said Peter Hubbard, a Democrat on the commission who won re-election.
“What they're looking for is someone who will hold them in check and not give them really any rubber stamp for any plan that they put in front of the commission, which is what has been happening in the past.”