Data Centers Have Brutal Election Night

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.

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 Washington Post.

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 facilities amount 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 [AI] 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.