Fight over data centers shifts into overdrive as midterms get closer

In an aerial view, the Meta El Paso Data Center is seen on August 13, 2026 in El Paso, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/

WASHINGTON (TNND) —Backlash over data centers has become a central issue in the upcoming midtermsas Americans on both sides of the aisle are becoming more resistant to having them built in their communities, pushing candidates to stake positions on how to handle them.

As the artificial intelligence industry plans billions of dollars’ worth of investments to ramp up construction of data centers to power the technology, it is running into mounting resistance that is forcing politicians to endorse more restrictions and accuse their opponents of being too soft on the industry.

Dozens of candidates have referenced AI policies and data centers during campaign speeches, on social media and running ads in a dispute that quickly developed from localized fights overdevelopment into a national political issue.

Polling has found Americans on both sides of the aisle have grown more skeptical of data centers over the last several months amid concerns about added costs from their electricity usage, water usage and noise. Many voters are also skeptical of the tech industry’s rapidly growing integration into their careers and lives.

A Fox News poll in July found 70% of voters oppose building a data center near where they live to support AI, and 78% backed slowing construction of them to address environmental and community concerns with them. The mounting skepticism toward data centers has forced candidates to reconsider their positions on them and try to find a balance between the potential economic benefits and resistance from voters.

Data centers and the rapid build-out of AI are tapping into several anxiety-inducing issues at once. Fears of higher utility bills from AI are ramping up longstanding frustrations over the cost of living, Americans are anxious about whether the technology will cost them their jobs and are bristling at tax incentives for highly profitable tech companies.

The backlash has not broken evenly along partisan lines, leaving candidates in both parties to figure out how to distance themselves from increasingly unpopular projects while preserving the growth of an industry promising massive investments and a transformational shift for the economy.

Neither party has been able to stake out clear positions that have won over the public, leading to more politicians calling for pauses on continued construction to figure out how to handle the industry’s growth and soothe voters’ concerns.

“We’re going to see moratoriums on these until they figure out a way that satisfies voters,” said Ray La Raja, a political science professor and co-director of the UMass Amherst poll. “This is part of a larger, broader mindset of people being really anxious and uncertain about the coming of AI, so it also plays into that. Locally, people are pissed, but it’s also it extends outward to even communities that aren’t getting these data centers because it feels out of control.”

Democratic candidates have mostly led the charge against data centers, tying Americans’ frustrations with the cost of living to fears over higher utility bills because of them and pointing to President Donald Trump’s enthusiastic support of the AI industry many Republicans have shared.

Data centers have become a leading issue in Ohio’s Senate race between Republican incumbent Jon Husted and former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who has spent millions labeling Husted “the face of data centers in Ohio.” The National Republican Senatorial Committee warned in a memo last week the politics around data centers are risking Husted’s reelection in a reliably Republican-leaning state.

“More than any other thing in this race, data centers are the anchor hanging around Husted’s neck,” the memo says. “If he loses and data centers get the blame, politicians across the country will take notice — and they will not go near the next one.”

Other Republicans have also moved to distance themselves from the AI industry.

In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott, who is running for reelection and earlier boasted about massive investments in Texas’ AI development, unveiled a new set of restrictions on data center construction and called to end some tax incentives for them.

Rep. Byron Donalds, the Republican nominee for governor in Florida, has vowed to protect the state from data centers increasing electricity prices. In Michigan, GOP senate nominee Mike Rogers backed a one-year moratoriumon new construction last week in a shift from his previous position.

Some Democrats are also facing attacks from their Republican opponents over data centers.

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, also a potential candidate for president in 2028, has been targeted by his Republican opponent for past support for data centers in the Keystone State. Last week, he signed an executive order imposing new restrictions on future development amid backlash from Pennsylvanians.

In Wisconsin, Republican Rep. David Tiffany has gone on offense on data centers in the race for governor. He has attacked his Democratic opponent, David Crowley, as “Data Center David Crowley” and called for repealing tax incentives to build them.

The Trump administration has been a fierce advocate for the AI industry, arguing the U.S. needs to maintain a competitive advantage over China, and sought to soothe concerns about added costs for consumers through a ratepayer protection pledge that charges tech companies with offsetting added costs for electricity or upgrades to the grid.

“They’re going to build their own electric producing facility, and that electricity that they have left over is going to the grid. It’s going to lower the cost of electricity. So, if I were a community, I would want the data center. It means jobs. It means income, and it means lower taxes,” Trump told reporters on Friday.

Many Americans have been skeptical that the cost of the rapid AI build-out will be borne by the tech companies and have consistently said they are not willing to pay more in electricity to have a data center in their area. How much data centers will ultimately fuel higher energy bills is unclear, but fears of rate increases have become a potent argument for critics.

Republicans were already on the defensive over the state of the economy and cost of living with Democrats gaining ground on which party Americans trust more to address the problems and Trump’s approval rating on the economy slumping.

“It plays into the inflation issue because rate payers see their bills going up. They don’t know all theble to these data centers, not just what’s going Middle East. All that plays into problems for the Republican Party, especially,” La Raja said