Data center backlash becomes a rare bipartisan wedge issue in 2026 US midterms

Data centers have become one of the defining issues of the 2026 US midterm elections, with candidates from both major parties racing to distance themselves from the rapid construction of server farms and the power, water and tax questions that come with them. According to The Verge, local opposition to data center projects has surfaced in communities across the country, turning the buildout into a prominent theme in congressional and gubernatorial campaigns.

The backlash is notable for cutting across partisan lines. The Verge reports that Democratic candidates are generally more open to pausing development, while Republicans tend to frame the issue around local control, but both parties include candidates willing to back outright moratoriums.

Tech money is flooding the same races

While candidates push back against data centers, industry-aligned groups are spending heavily to influence the elections. Leading the Future, a super PAC backed by venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and OpenAI President Greg Brockman, has spent $45 million over the past year, according to The Verge. Public First Action, an Anthropic-backed group that says it supports AI safeguards, says it has raised $80 million. Both have funded groups aligned with Democrats and Republicans. A newer organization, Tomorrow Together, has launched $4 million in advertising for battleground House races focused on data center development and AI safety.

Texas puts data centers at the center of three races

Texas, which The Verge reports has the second-highest number of planned data center projects after Virginia, has become a key battleground over the issue.

In the Senate race, Democratic state Rep. James Talarico has proposed a plan that would end state sales tax incentives, give communities more input into development decisions, require closed-loop water systems at new facilities and establish federal standards protecting the energy grid and environment. He has also floated an AI Dividend funded by a tax on AI-related profits. His opponent, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, released his own proposal in August that would repeal sales tax exemptions, require data centers to pay for the electricity they consume and for added grid capacity, and block AI data centers from rural parts of the state. Paxton also says he would push federal legislation barring Chinese technology from powering US data centers. Despite different emphases, with Talarico focused on environmental impact and public profit-sharing and Paxton on Chinese technology, both want facilities to cover their own energy infrastructure costs.

In the governor's race, Democratic challenger Gina Hinojosa has called for a statewide moratorium and accused incumbent Republican Greg Abbott of inconsistency, pointing to his office's earlier celebration of a $40 billion Google investment followed by an August announcement of an audit that could slow new facilities connecting to the state grid. The Verge reports that Cook Political Report recently shifted its rating of the governor's race from likely Republican to leaning Republican, and describes the open Senate contest as a toss-up.

Florida and Pennsylvania show the same pattern

In Florida, Democratic candidate David Jolly has pledged a one-year ban on hyperscale data centers on his first day in office and has not ruled out making it permanent. His opponent, Republican Congressman Byron Donalds, previously welcomed data center development but has since shifted, saying facilities will not be built unless residents' costs are protected. Donalds introduced the Protecting Ratepayers Act in July, which would require developers to fund the energy and water their operations need. Opponents have labeled him Data Center Donalds, and an October NBC6/Telemundo Station Group poll cited by The Verge found 45 percent of likely voters oppose data centers in Florida, rising to 59 percent for facilities in their own communities. Donalds still leads Jolly 48 to 41 percent, within a margin of error of four points. Energy experts quoted by The Verge warn that Donalds' reliance on nuclear and natural gas could actually raise consumer costs.

In Pennsylvania, both candidates have hardened positions they once held. Gov. Josh Shapiro, who touted a $20 billion Amazon investment last year, signed an executive order in August banning nondisclosure agreements for data center developers and removed AI data center proposals from a fast-track permitting program. Republican challenger Stacy Garrity, who previously described rural parts of the state as ideal sites for data centers and praised the Amazon deal, has also grown more critical as the election approached.

Why it matters

The politics of data centers now bear directly on the pace of cloud and AI infrastructure growth. Proposals to repeal tax incentives, shift energy and water costs onto operators, slow grid connections or impose moratoriums would raise costs and stretch timelines for the capacity that AI services depend on. With both parties competing to appear tough on the industry, polling showing majority opposition near people's homes, and outcomes in Texas, Florida and Pennsylvania still uncertain, local politics has become a variable that hyperscalers and cloud planners can no longer treat as secondary.