Americans across the country voted in the midterms to halt or hinder constructing data centers as the country becomes more critical of artificial intelligence (AI) projects near their homes.
Sean Moran·Nov 4, 2026·5 min read
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Americans across the country voted in the midterms to halt or hinder constructing data centers as the country becomes more critical of artificial intelligence (AI) projects near their homes.
Voters in nearly 40 localities passed either bans or tighter rules on data centers on Tuesday, according to The Washington Post. Americans voted against building these AI facilities in states that were the center of the data center boom such as Ohio and California, per Ballotpedia.
“Voters in red and blue districts alike made clear last night that they don’t want decisions about data centers to be left to 💻Technology companies alone,” Stephanie Justice, the policy communications manager for Americans for Responsible Innovation, told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a statement. “Their anger about being shut out of these deals led to the overwhelming passage of ballot measures restricting data centers and was a factor in the defeat of some candidates closely associated with the buildout.”
Americans remain wary of data centers, with roughly half of Americans saying that the building would increase home costs, according to a Pew Research Center survey.
“The theme of the night was accountability for developers and candidates alike, and those just elected now know that they must give their constituents a say before data centers come to their communities,” she added.
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Data Centers Have Brutal Election Night — IJR
Democrats flipped the House and Senate and even unseated Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who held office for nearly 12 years. Democratic Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa’s victory over the incumbent governor spooked the industry, as she has championed a moratorium on new data center proposals and advocated for more stringent rules for the industry, according to the
Data centers became a hot-button issue in the Ohio Senate race between former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown and Republican Sen. Jon Husted,with one August National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) memo warning that these facilitiesamount to the “anchor hanging around Husted’s neck.” Brown unseated Husted by 4.8%, per NBC News, after calling the Republican the “face of data centers” in Ohio, per a local ABC News report in September.
In Hubbard, Ohio, more than three-quarters of voters approved a ban on data center construction, per Trumbull County, Ohio, election results. Voters rejected data centers even though President Donald Trump touted his administration’s advancement of AI near Hubbard in a rally in Youngstown in October, per the Washington Post. Ohioans largely questioned Trump’s staunch embrace of AI, the outlet noted.
“He sees as a way to make more money. … They’re putting billions and billions into all that. Where’s it all coming from? You’ve got people starving here,” William Akel, a 26-year-old resident of Niles, Ohio, told the outlet.
Pataskala voters passed a ballot measure banning large data center construction 73 to 26%, per Licking County, Ohio election data.
Data centers became the most important issue this election cycle, Ohio Republican Rep. Troy Balderson, who represents Pataskala, said in September, citing voters’ concerns with higher electricity prices sometimes associated with these facilities.
“It is a big issue. And we’ve been trying to tackle all these things to make sure that we do the right thing and make sure that it does not fall into the backs of our constituency that we represent in the 12th Congressional District,” he told Spectrum News at the time.
It’s not just Ohio.
More than 60% of Janesville, Wisconsin, voters voted for a measure to ensure local officials must obtain voter approval on converting an abandoned General Motors site into a data center after locals pushed back building a data center there, per the Washington Post.
Locals’ concerns about data centers appear to trend nationally.
About two-thirds of voters rejected the idea of building data centers near their homes and 43% do not trust either party to tackle AI, per early CNN exit polling. More than a majority of voters said AI will mostly hurt society, while roughly a quarter of voters said it would mostly help society. Sixty-nine percent of Democratic voters said AI and data centers were a “crucial” factor in their vote, while only 29% of Republicans said the same.
As Democrats took the House and Senate majorities and in the wake of these ballot measures, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said he may look for extraterrestrial solutions for data centers. Many tech companies are working on orbital data centers, but they come with their own technical challenges, the DCNF reported.
“Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now,” Musk wrote on X on Wednesday.
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