Voters in a Missouri town ousted four city council members Tuesday for supporting an AI data center in the area.
Voters in the town of Festus, Missouri, voted against four members of the town’s eight-member city council who voted to greenlight a $6 billion data center project a week prior, according to St. Louis Public Radio. Anger has been brewing in several localities across the U.S. against data center projects, with voters in a Wisconsin town overwhelmingly opting Tuesday to crack down on a proposed development.
Tuesday’s vote followed months of at times raucous opposition against CRG Clayco’s plan to build a hyperscale data center on 360 acres in the town. The four city council members who lost their reelection bids were defeated by candidates who ran against the data centers and supported more transparency in the data center approval process.
“This data center fight has struck this community to the core and really, honestly ignited a community-driven effort here,” Dan Moore, who defeated pro-data center incumbent Bobby Benz, told St. Louis Public Radio. “People are awake now, and we’re not going to let this continue on anymore.”
Residents opposed to the AI data center flooded a local gymnasium to voice their frustrations during a March 31 city council meeting where the council voted to approve a framework of requirements for CRG’s planned construction, St. Louis Public Radio reported.
“I am not against growth,” Festus resident Lauren Albers said during the raucous city council meeting. “I’m against putting data centers between homes. I am against rushing into development before residents get real information, real answers and a real voice.”
Supporters of AI counter that data center development is crucial to the future of the economy and necessary to combat rivals such as China, while opponents are concerned the projects will force people to lose their homes through eminent domain and will cause their electric bills to skyrocket.
Voters in Port Washington, Wisconsin, also went to the polls Tuesday to air their frustrations against an AI data center in their community. Voters, by a near two-to-one margin, approved the first-in-the nation ballot initiative opposing a planned $15 billion OpenAI-Vantage data center campus.
Although the passed Wisconsin measure will not stop construction of the project, it does add requirements for the public to approve tax incentives for future construction in the area. The project was backed by President Donald Trump as part of the Stargate initiative he announced alongside tech CEOs in January 2025.
Trump signed an executive order in July 2025 to “to facilitate the rapid and efficient buildout of this infrastructure by easing Federal regulatory burdens.” Additionally, the Trump administration encouraged $92 billion in private sector investment aimed at AI.
“We have to get this stuff built .… They have to produce a lot of electricity, and we’ll make it possible for them to get that production done very easily,” Trump said. “What we want to do is keep [AI infrastructure] in this country. China is a competitor.”
Local communities across America including in Alabama, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Florida have also protested data center expansions.
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