PolicyAIScienceData center backlash is uniting AmericaSome midterm races come down to ‘people who hate data centers’ versus ‘people who hate them even more.’by Lauren FeinerOct 27, 2026, 10:00 AM UTCShareGift Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty ImagesPolicyAIScienceData center backlash is uniting AmericaSome midterm races come down to ‘people who hate data centers’ versus ‘people who hate them even more.’by Lauren FeinerOct 27, 2026, 10:00 AM UTCShareGiftPart OfAll the latest updates on AI data centerssee all updates Lauren Feiner is a senior policy reporter at The Verge, covering the intersection of Silicon Valley and Capitol Hill. She spent 5 years covering tech policy at CNBC, writing about antitrust, privacy, and content moderation reform.If there’s one issue that seems to activate all kinds of voters in 2026, it’s data centers. The rapid buildout of these massive server storage facilities — and the infrastructure construction and expenses that come with them — has sparked local opposition in communities across the country and become a major issue in many congressional and gubernatorial campaigns.At the same time, tech money has been pouring into many of these races. Leading the Future, a super PAC backed by venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and OpenAI President Greg Brockman, has already spent $45 million in a year.
And Public First Action, an Anthropic-backed group that says it supports AI safeguards, says it’s raised $80 million. Both have funded Democratic and Republican-aligned groups. Other super PACs see an opportunity to push for stricter AI policies, like the recently created Tomorrow Together, which launched $4 million in ads for battleground House races, with messages about data center development and AI safety.All sorts of candidates appear to be distancing themselves from data centers and taking steps to assuage voters’ concerns about unconstrained buildouts in their backyards. How far they’re willing to go — including by backing an outright moratorium on development — varies.
While many Democratic candidates seem likelier to back a pause, that’s not always the case. And though some Republicans have leaned on party messaging about putting development in local control, rather than supporting a ban, others say a pause is exactly what the moment calls for.Deep red Texas has the second-highest number of planned data center projects in the country after Virginia, and across multiple races, data centers have emerged as a key wedge issue. Democratic and Republican candidates are all trying to look tough on data centers but emphasize different messages in their plans. For example, in the Senate race, Democratic candidate and State Rep.
James Talarico includes references to environmental impact and sharing corporate profit with the public, while Republican candidate and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton discusses the need to keep Chinese technology out of US data centers. Both, however, want data centers to bear their own energy infrastructure-related costs and want to do away with certain tax exemptions for them.In July, Talarico unveiled his “Hold Data Centers Accountable Plan,” which would end state sales tax incentives, give communities more of a say in data center development, require a closed-loop water system in new data centers to limit consumption, and create federal standards to protect the energy grid and environment. Talarico has also proposed an “AI Dividend” for Americans that would be funded by a tax on “AI-attributable profits.”For his part, Paxton’s “Texas First Data Center Plan,” unveiled in August, would support Gov. Greg Abbott’s state-level policies, including repealing sales tax exemptions for data centers, requiring them to pay for electricity they use and add to state capacity, and preventing AI data centers from building in rural parts of the state.
On the federal level, Paxton says he would co-sponsor an existing bill making it easier for data centers to connect to off-grid power systems, introduce new legislation prohibiting the use of Chinese technology to power US data centers or infrastructure, and hold data center companies criminally liable if the facility “empowers AI chatbots that undermine children’s safety.”Talarico has also proposed an “AI Dividend” for Americans that would be funded by a tax on “AI-attributable profits”In the race for the governor’s office, Democratic challenger and State Rep. Gina Hinojosa has accused Abbott, the Republican incumbent, of “flip-flopping” on data centers. Abbott’s office put out a press release last year celebrating a $40 billion Google investment that would include three new data center campuses, but in August 2026, with campaign season heating up, he announced an audit that could slow new facilities connecting to the state energy grid. Hinojosa, who has recently called for a statewide moratorium on data center development, pounced on the perceived inconsistency. “Greg Abbott has zero credibility here.
Nobody believes that the arsonist is about to put out the fire,” she said in a social media video.The outcome of these races remains highly uncertain. Cook Political Report changed its rating for the governor’s race earlier this month from a likely Republican win to one that leans Republican. It says the open field for the Senate race is a toss-up.In Florida, there’s a clash over whether large-scale data centers can be reined in with the right policies or if they should be outright barred in the state. Democratic candidate and former congressman David Jolly has pledged to install a one-year ban on hyperscale data centers on his first day in office, and hasn’t ruled out a permanent extension.
In one ad, Jolly puts data centers in the same breath as crime in a list of things he doesn’t want in Florida.His Republican opponent, Congressman Byron Donalds, has previously supported data center development in the state and said Florida is “wide open” to build without destroying the state’s beauty. He’s more recently changed his tune though, and while he still doesn’t want to outright ban data centers, he’s tried to assure voters that he’d support policies protecting them from associated risks like higher energy costs. In July, Donalds introduced the Protecting Ratepayers Act, which would require data center developers to fund the energy and water needed to run their operations. He’s also supported a state law with some similar requirements and environmental guardrails. “In my Florida, if you don’t protect our pocketbooks and our people, you won’t build data centers, period,” he assures voters in one ad.
Energy experts have warned, however, that Donalds’ pledge to lean on nuclear and natural gas could actually raise costs for consumers.Despite these efforts, he’s been branded as “Data Center Donalds” by opponents, and polling suggests he may have to fight for conservative voters who also strongly oppose data center development. An October NBC6/Telemundo Station Group poll found that 45 percent of likely voter respondents opposed data centers in Florida, with 38 percent in support and 17 percent undecided. A higher percentage opposed data centers in their own communities, at 59 percent. Still, the poll found Donalds has a lead of 48 percent to Jolly’s 41 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.
Ten percent of respondents were still undecided.In one of the country’s relatively few purple states, both candidates for governor have accused each other of changing their rhetoric on data centers just to get votes. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and Republican challenger and state Treasurer Stacy Garrity each appear to have hardened their stances amid the widespread backlash to data center development, even though they previously touted opportunity in such projects.Shapiro proudly announced a $20 billion investment from Amazon last year t
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