Data Centers Lost the Midterms: 38 of 39 Ballot Restrictions Passed

Thirty-eight of the 39 data center restrictions on local ballots this midterm passed, according to results tracked as of November 4 by Data Centers on the Ballot. The measures ranged from temporary construction moratoriums to full bans. Candidates who built campaigns around opposing data centers also won, several of them governorships.

What did the Michigan race show?

William Lawrence, a Democratic newcomer, won the U.S. House seat in Michigan's 7th Congressional District, a seat Trump narrowly carried in 2024. Lawrence, a progressive community organizer and cofounder of the Sunrise Movement, beat the Trump-backed incumbent Tom Barrett. In the primary he defeated two establishment Democrats who had raised more money, in part by vowing to fight data centers.

"He found an issue that connected with local residents across partisanship," says Matt Grossman, director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research at Michigan State University.

Recent polls, reported by The Washington Post, show seven in 10 Americans do not want data centers built in their communities. Reasons cited range from electric bill impacts to noise and water use.

In his first campaign ad, Lawrence stood at a farm and said: "Tech billionaires want to turn this field into a massive data center that'll jack up our energy bills and ruin our home values." After attending local planning meetings where developers pitched projects, he called the process an "abuse of power" in communities lacking resources to fight back. He also backed a pause on advanced AI development and mandatory AI safety requirements.

Why did Barrett's record matter?

Barrett had supported data centers. He voted for a version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that would have blocked states from regulating AI, and likely data centers, for a decade; that provision was later removed from the bill. The OBBBA contains tax breaks for companies building AI infrastructure. Barrett also voted for the SPEED Act, which accelerates data center construction. As backlash grew, he argued communities should have local control over projects. The message fell flat.

Caveats apply. Barrett had never held a local town hall, and voter anger about the Iran war and tariffs' impact on Michigan's economy likely played a role. "It's probably too early to say that data centers as an issue swung a race," says Daniel Schiff, an associate professor of technology policy at Purdue University. "If you had seen elections flip the other way, you would have said, oh, wow, this data center stuff actually isn't that much of a concern for the public compared to other things," Schiff says. That did not happen.

Which other candidates won on the issue?

Democrats who campaigned for data center moratoriums won statewide races across the country:

• Texas: Gina Hinojosa became the first Democrat elected governor since 1990, beating incumbent Greg Abbott after calling for a data center moratorium. Abbott had called Texas the "epicenter of AI development" before pivoting to pause new data centers; Hinojosa said she would go further.
• Georgia: Keisha Lance Bottoms won the governor's race after campaigning for a statewide moratorium.
• New Mexico: Deb Haaland pledged a statewide moratorium and won the governorship.
• Ohio: Amy Acton called for a conditional moratorium and beat Vivek Ramaswamy.
• Senate: Sherrod Brown won an Ohio Senate seat after calling his Republican opponent the "face of data centers."

Opposition also narrowed margins elsewhere. In a southeast Georgia district where residents oppose a new OpenAI data center, Trump won by nearly 50 points in 2024; this year the Republican congressional candidate won by fewer than 3 points.

What happens to the AI buildout now?

Voter anger may not target AI itself as much as electricity prices and the climate impact of soaring energy use. Clean-energy data centers paid for by tech companies remain possible. But skepticism is now so ingrained that more moratoriums will likely pass, which could push developers toward communities least able to resist. "They'll say, OK, we need to do this more quietly . . . we need to go to the communities that don't speak back," Schiff says. "That would be a plausible and unfortunate consequence."

The constraint is already showing up in filings. Anthropic's IPO filing said backlash against data centers could limit its ability to grow. Tech companies have spent billions betting they can build AI infrastructure fast enough to stay ahead of demand. The midterms suggest they may not build fast enough to stay ahead of public opposition.