Citizens across the United States rejected data centers during last night’s midterm elections. Data center-related propositions were explicitly on the ballot in more than 40 races in 13 states. People voted against data centers in 38 of them and counting. Six cities voted to ban data centers outright, and 12 placed limits on the amount of megawatts those buildings could consume. In addition to specific ballot measures, pro-data center candidates lost across the country.
One of the most striking rejections of pro-data center politicians occurred in Texas, where Gregg Abbott lost his bid for a fourth term as governor. Abbott had made Texas a data center friendly place. The state has more than 300 operating data centers and there are plans to double this number. “Texas is the epicenter of AI development,” Abbott said in 2025 at a press conference with Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google. “We must ensure that America remains at the forefront of the AI revolution, and Texas is where that can happen.” » He then accepted more $9 million from data center donors.
When public opinion turned against data centers, Abbott tried to take advantage of the changing political winds by give a “pause” on new projects. The break wasn’t real. Texas regulators continued to approve data center projects after Abbott’s announcement and only close the state’s permitting web portal when 404 Media reported it.
Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic governor-elect of Texas, has made Abbott’s stance on data centers a central part of her campaign. Abbott’s words about the need to make Texas a data center-friendly AI state were broadcast over and over again on televisions and across the Internet. He lost by more than 700,000 votes.
Anti-data center candidates an overwhelming majority won statewide races across the country. In Burgin, Kentucky, mayoral candidate George Hensley lost his bid after voting in favor of a large-scale project in favor of a write-in candidate. Hensley was the only name on the ballot, and he lost to Joe MonroeTK, who ran a write-in campaign against data centers. Emporia, Kansas — where police arrested a school teacher for clapping at a data center-related town meeting – passed a ban on high-impact data centers. In Yukon and Oklahoma, the mayor lost a recall election after supported a hyperscale data center project.
“These midterm elections sent a clear message: people don’t want to see data centers in their backyards,” Michael Whitesides, deputy director of communications for Local progresstold 404 Media. “Across the country, people are not seeing the promised benefits of these data centers and the AI they power reflected in their daily lives. They are seeing basic goods and services become more expensive while these billionaire-backed monstrosities take up space in their communities, poison their air, and drive up their utility bills.”
Local Progress is a network of local elected officials. Over the past year, its members have increasingly focused on data centers as a major policy issue. “Last night we saw local, state and federal officials who supported data center deals lose their seats,” Whitesides said. He noted that Kim Rooney in Asheville, North Carolina, and Amanda Rodrigues in San Marcos, Texas (both members of Local Progress) were elected mayors of their cities after leading anti-data center campaigns.
“Tech giants will continue their usual strategy of trying to buy off and intimidate local officials into complying with their demands for increased data center development, but we hope that last night’s results are a clear signal to local leaders that they can resist and that their community will support them,” Whitesides said.
American voters in the communities where they are built hate data centers. They’re driving up electricity bills, burning water, and powering Silicon Valley’s AI machine. America rejected data centers last night because both symbols of the great technological oligarchy and a physical manifestation of the future she wants to build. It’s a future that Americans seem ready to fight for.
Elon Musk, one of the big losers of the evening, took a break after a week of posting on X as the election results came in. Musk spent half a billion dollars in the midterms, including $224 in Texas, the state where he lives and does a lot of business. The richest man in the world wanted to cover the state in data centers. These plans don’t look good now that Abbott is out and Hinojoa is here.
Musk broke his election day with silence shortly after 1 a.m. “Data centers in space look pretty attractive right now” he said on X. Driven out of the country by his people, the billionaire looks towards the sky.
Gn bussni
