After the US midterms: discontent over data centers becomes a political force

The election as a referendum on AI infrastructure

Following the November 3 midterm elections, Democrats gained full control of Congress while Republicans retain the White House — TechCrunch calls this the makings of one of the most divided governments of the decade. The outlet links the result in part to growing discontent with data centers — large facilities that house the computers powering AI.

What the exit polls showed

An NBC exit poll found: more than half of respondents believe AI will do more harm than good, nearly 80% oppose building data centers in their neighborhoods, and nearly 60% called this issue a decisive or significant factor in their vote. Nadine Smith, president and CEO of the organization Color of Change, called the election a referendum on

Ohio and other states: what has already been decided

Data centers met the most notable resistance in Ohio, where OpenAI is eyeing a $500 billion facility with more than $100 billion in Nvidia funding. The county where Meta planned a 700,000-square-foot facility adopted a ban on data centers, and communities across the state voted overwhelmingly against measures to build them. Morgan Stanley analysts predictthat the newly elected Democratic governor, Amy Acton, will also pose a major risk to construction in Ohio. Candidates who opposed the rapid expansion of data centers won in Texas, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, Georgia, and South Carolina. Goldman Sachs, for its part, forecasts construction delays in Georgia and Texas due to Democratic wins.

Plans, not decisions

Further steps remain forecasts and bills for now. Likely measures include new construction moratoriums and requirements that companies themselves pay for grid upgrades rather than shifting costs onto neighboring communities. A Democratic Congress raises the chances of Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's bill for a nationwide moratorium on new data centers until protective standards are introduced, but such a law could face a veto. Separately, there is Senator Martin Heinrich's GRID Savings Act, which would prohibit shifting grid infrastructure costs onto communities. Maia Woluchem of the research group Data & Society expects movement primarily at the state and municipal levels, citing the newly elected governor of Texas, Gina Ortega, who supports a statewide moratorium. At the same time, as Smith notes, even among Democrats a universal moratorium is contested — part of the party fears slowing AI progress and harming national security, and lobbyists, she expects, will begin pressuring lawmakers.

The roots of the discontent

TechCrunch notes that the discontent runs deeper than the buildings themselves, which are nothing new: according to one executive at a private investment fund, people hate not so much the data centers as AI itself, and the facilities have become a symbol of fears about the technology. Over the past month, the outlet's sources cited two main grievances — environmental impact and having no say in construction. The example of Amazon is telling: it built a data center in Gilroy, California, which many residents did not know about — the company had satisfied the requirements of a 45-year-old zoning law. Vague or outdated zoning rules and NDAs signed by local officials that bar discussion of projects amplify the outrage; billion-dollar tax breaks are added on top, which promises of jobs and community programs do not compensate for.