--- title: "Voters Supported Every Single Anti-Data Center Proposal in America, Except One" description: "Americans broadly embraced anti-data center ballot measures and candidates viewed as willing to stand up to big tech during the midterms." date: "2026-11-05" modified: "2026-11-05" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins.md" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/voters-midterm-elections-data-center-ballot-america" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Ethics" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" --- # Voters Supported Every Single Anti-Data Center Proposal in America, Except One ![Signs and Placards From An Anti Data Center Protest Demonstration.]() *westpa1 / Shutterstock* Voters across the US have sent data center developers packing, in a bruising defeat for the tech lobby across local and state battlegrounds. The midterm elections on Tuesday saw 41 anti-data center ballot measures go up for a vote across 10 states, a blend of moratoriums on new developments and measures meant to clear the way for further data center expansion. The results were nearly total: after the dust settled, only a single measure's outcome was favorable to the AI industry, [*CNBC* reported](). By itself, the state of Ohio accounted for 21 of the proposals, every single one of which saw voters reject any advances from the data center lobby. The lone exception to the 41 ballot measures came from Harwood, North Dakota, where citizens voted "no" to adding an additional review stage to data center zoning procedures. Candidates who embraced an anti-data center message also far outperformed their opponents. As [*CNN* observed](), Democrats picked up gubernatorial seats in Nevada, Ohio, Texas, and Georgia by running candidates who were outspoken against the unpopular facilities. That said, there are signs that rhetoric alone wasn't enough to win the day. Anti-data center messaging failed to secure Republican wins for figures like Texas gubernatorial incumbent Greg Abbott, for example, who [had recently flip-flopped]() away from a pro-data center message after he saw [which way the wind was blowing]() over the summer. In other words, it seems voters didn't embrace politicians who turned against data centers at a convenient moment, but instead chose candidates they viewed as having a modicum of integrity when it comes to standing up to the big tech lobby. In all, the election results are an absolutely crushing rout for tech industry executives, who have spent an astonishing amount of money attempting to influence the 2026 US midterm elections on [both sides of the aisle](). Elon Musk alone spent nearly [$450 million]() trying to boost Republican efforts, a maneuver which [backfired spectacularly](). According to a [*CNBC* voter exit poll](), 56 percent of voters said data centers were a "crucial" or "major" factor influencing their ballot choices. Given that the Democratic party is viewed as generally more adversarial to big tech — even as key party figures [receive major contributions]() from controversial tech executives — it's fair to say the data center backlash was a huge liability for Republicans. "The revolt against data centers was one of the top issues of the 2026 election," Texas Democrat representative Greg Casar said in a statement reported by *CNBC*. "And in a few years we will look back on it as just the early tremor of a much bigger AI earthquake upending American politics." With no electoral path forward for big tech's data center agenda, we can expect to see developers embrace more [legal loopholes]() and [push into communities]() less capable of standing up for themselves in the months and years to come. **More on data centers:** *[New Data Centers in the US Set to Wipe Out 15 Years of Greenhouse Gas Reductions]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]() ## More - [The Military’s AI Fever Is Leading Into Disaster, Critics Say]() - [Children’s Toys Are Shipping With Adult AI Inside Them]() - [OpenAI Says It Will Let Users Add Trusted Contacts to Alert If They Experience a Mental Health Crisis While Using ChatGPT]() - [Mamdani Shuts Down NYC’s Disastrous AI Chatbot]() - [TikTok Accounts Are Using AI Slop to Sell Seeds to Plants That Don’t Exist]() - [Police Admit AI Surveillance Panopticon Still Has Issues With “Some Demographic Groups”]() - [A Startling Proportion of Teens Now Prefer Talking to AI Over a Real Person]() - [Judge Horrified as Lawyers Submit Evidence in Court That Was Faked With AI]()