Data centers lost the midterms

Data center developers are poised to face a more restrictive building environment after voters across the country voted in candidates who favor moratoriums and ballot measures that put more obstacles on their expansion, delivering a stinging blow to a central pillar of the AI industry.

Of voters polled by NBC News on Election Day, 76 percent said they opposed data centers in their communities. Dozens of local communities voted directly to restrict development through ballot measures. And upset winners like Texas Democratic Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa and Michigan’s Democratic Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed support moratoriums on development.

It’s hard to draw a direct line from data center backlash to the election of any of these candidates, and there were still some races where candidates who favored more limited restrictions on data centers prevailed. Republican Rep. Byron Donalds, who previously lauded development in Florida, was elected as governor, and Iowa’s Democratic Governor-elect Rob Sand opposed a moratorium that his challenger favored. But even these candidates were forced to engage on data center issues during their campaigns, and will be likely to face continued pressure to put at least some guardrails in place.

Voters were faced with questions about data centers directly in 45 local ballot measures nationwide. As of Wednesday morning, according to a site compiled by Redbud Consulting, the results of 33 of those will restrict data center development. The Town of Wells, Maine, favored a 180-day moratorium on large data centers, backdated to mid-June 2026. Several cities in Ohio voted to ban data centers over 25MW. The City of El Dorado, Kansas, voted to ban data centers with peak electrical load over 10MW for 10 years.

Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa will take over the governor’s seat from Republican incumbent Greg Abbott, marking a major Democratic flip in a state with the second-highest number of planned data centers. Hinojosa supports a statewide moratorium on data center development, while Abbott took a more measured approach. He announced a new audit this summer on data centers that could slow new developments from connecting to the state energy grid, but has previously praised data center expansion in the state.

In another major upset, Democratic State Rep. James Talarico flipped Texas blue in a landmark Senate victory against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Both Talarico and Paxton wanted to remove some tax exemptions for data centers, and to make them responsible for their own energy infrastructure-related costs. But Talarico also put an emphasis on the facilities’ environmental impact and ensuring they shared their profits with the public, while Paxton’s message focused on keeping Chinese tech out of data centers.

Republican congressman Byron Donalds won the governor’s seat over Democratic former congressman David Jolly. Donalds opposed an outright ban of data centers, while Jolly said he’d bar hyperscalers for a year beginning on day one in office. In Congress, Donalds introduced the Protecting Ratepayers Act, which would make developers pay for their own energy and water needs. Donalds’ win was still closer than expected in a state that’s been a Republican stronghold in the Trump era. As of Wednesday morning, NBC News reported that Donalds had exactly 50 percent of the vote, with 99 percent of expected votes already counted, while Jolly had 48.7 percent, and the rest went to an Independent candidate.

Democratic incumbent Governor Josh Shapiro held onto his seat against Republican challenger and state Treasurer Stacy Garrity. Both Shapiro and Garrity toughened their stances against data centers as the race went on, despite previously touting their potential benefits to the state. Shapiro signed an executive order that barred nondisclosure agreements for data center developments and took proposals for AI data centers off the fast track. Garrity has said she supports a development pause of up to three years.

Democrat Sherrod Brown won back his former Senate seat from Republican incumbent Jon Husted, whom Brown had labeled “the face of data centers.” The National Republican Senatorial Committee warned this summer in a leaked memo that if data centers were blamed for Husted’s potential loss, it would make them seem poisonous to future candidates. Husted earlier helped install data center tax breaks as lieutenant governor, though he more recently introduced the Ratepayer Protection Act in Congress to force large data centers to cover their infrastructure upgrade and energy costs. Brown hammered Husted on the issue throughout the campaign, and while he hasn’t gone as far as to call for a moratorium, he’s said that developers shouldn’t get tax breaks or get a go-ahead without local input.

Democrat and former public health official Abdul El-Sayed won the Senate race over Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers. El-Sayed was one of the earliest politicians to stake his position on data centers, and has called for a pause on new developments “until we can do it safely and with federal protections.” Rogers called for a one-year state moratorium this summer, but not a federal ban.

As of Wednesday morning, NBC News had not yet called a House race between Democratic organizer William Lawrence and Republican incumbent Tom Barrett, but Lawrence held a lead with 92 percent of the vote in. Similar to El-Sayed, Lawrence stated his position on data centers early on, calling for a one-year federal moratorium on new developments during his primary campaign. Barrett introduced legislation this summer to bar nondisclosure agreements for data center developments and give locals more control.

Democrat and former Maine State Senator Troy Jackson ousted Republican Sen. Susan Collins from her Senate seat. The state legislature passed what would have been the country’s first moratorium on data centers, had the governor not vetoed it. But polls show that opposition to data centers among Maine residents remained strong. Jackson supported a state moratorium on data centers, while Collins opposed such a measure but called for more local control and protection for energy ratepayers.

Democratic Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley won the governor’s race over Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany. Neither Crowley nor Tiffany favored a moratorium on data centers, and have distanced themselves from previous support. Crowley won his primary over progressive primary opponent Francesca Hong, who supported a moratorium. Both Crowley and Tiffany said they wanted to end state tax subsidies for data centers though they’ve accused one another of flip-flopping their stances.

Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford successfully flipped the governor’s seat from incumbent Republican Joe Lombardo, whom he’d branded “data center Joe.” Lombardo has previously made supportive comments about data centers, but more recently introduced an executive order making tax incentives contingent on data centers covering power costs and meeting certain environmental standards. Ford previously championed a 2015 data center tax-break bill, but said today’s data centers are different from those years ago, and now supports a pause on all tax breaks for new data centers.

Democrat and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms won the Georgia governor’s seat over Republican healthcare executive Rick Jackson. Bottoms favored a moratorium on data centers to review environmental and cost effects, while Jackson preferred to leave decisions up to locals.

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs fought off a challenge from Republican Rep. Andy Biggs. Both opposed a moratorium on data centers in favor of power and water use standards.

Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes held onto her seat over a challenge from Republican state legislator Warren Petersen. Mayes took a more hardline view than her Democratic peer, Hobbs, by endorsing a state moratorium on data center development. Petersen opposed a moratorium, and said data centers are necessary for technology residents use every day.

Democratic state auditor Rob Sand won the governor’s seat over Republican businessman Zach Lahn. Sand did not support a data center moratorium, which Lahn did. But both agreed on ending tax breaks for the developments.

Democratic pediatrician Annie Andrews flipped South Carolina’s Senate seat blue in a race against Republican incumbent Darline Graham, who had taken over the seat after her brother Lindsey Graham died. Andrews supported a two-year data center moratorium, while Graham opposed a pause and got significant support from a super PAC allied with the data center industry.