Americans dislike data centers, but will their disdain affect how they vote in the midterm elections?
Widespread public discontent toward the projects has blurred partisan lines, with the White House, Republicans and Democrats ending up on different sides of the issue.
The White House believes voters will focus on “day-to-day” issues, one source close to the Trump administration told the Daily Caller News Foundation. Meanwhile, AI safety experts and leftist groups think the election may serve as a referendum on out-of-touch tech elites.
“The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor. If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in late August. “The good news is that there are plenty of other places that want them. If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame. China could not be happier with this anti-data center movement.”
The president’s stance runs counter to the worries Americans have about data centers, such as their water usage, impact on electricity bills and proximity to residential areas.
“President Trump’s bold leadership is turning data centers into engines of growth and opportunity for communities across the country that want them, all while cementing America’s dominance over China in the global AI race,” Liz Huston, a White House assistant press secretary, told the DCNF in a written statement.
“By requiring data centers to pay for their own power, water, and utilities, the President has ensured the American people never foot the bill for private companies’ profits. President Trump will continue leveraging the data center boom to deliver jobs, growth, and economic benefits for working families and small businesses,” Huston added.
“The fact is that the AI revolution, which we’re calling ‘super intelligence’ now, is viewed internally in the administration as the gateway to a continued economic golden age,” thesource close to the Trump administration told DCNF.
Voters rank the economy as their top issue heading into the midterms, with Americans facing a wider affordability crisis due to the wars in Iran and Ukraine. Grocery and fuel costs continue to rise and rates for a 30-year mortgage now exceed 7%.
“People are going to vote in this election based on what affects their day-to-day life, a data center does not affect their day-to-day life,” the source close to the administration told the DCNF.
“When they’re going to vote in this election, they’re going to vote based on whether they think that the policies of this administration are leading us into prosperity and safety and whether the lack of a message of any type of coherence from the left and the Democrats in this election are going to provide any type of answers to the complaints that they’ve had going back several years now,” the source explained.
Some polling suggests voters are open to data centers, albeit with a few caveats.
More than 60% of general election voters, swing voters and low-propensity Trump voters would support building data centers if developers met local community requirements, such as paying for their own energy usage, not increasing local residents’ electricity rates and funding the infrastructure upgrades needed to support the data center, one internal poll obtained by the DCNF, which was shared with Senate Republicans, found.
Democrats lead Republicans overall ahead of the midterms, although polling remains split on whom Americans trust more on data centers.
Forty-two percent of voters trust Republicans more on AI, while 40% said they trust Democrats more, according to a September New York Times and Siena University poll. Less than one percent of voters in that survey ranked AI as their top issue ahead of November.
“Fundamentally, I believe this comes down to an issue of people feeling a loss of control over their future, over their community, to Big Tech. For many years now, a number of years now, hyperscalers [frontier AI labs] have used tactics like non-disclosure agreements to hide data center development details from the residents that it impacts,” Chris MacKenzie, the vice president of communications at Americans for Responsible Innovation, told the DCNF.
Americans’ skepticism toward data centers isn’t without warrant, as the facilities have been linked to environmental spills and strains on local water supplies.
A New Jersey data center spilled roughly one small tanker truck’s worth of diesel into a creek in mid-September. Another data center in Georgia consumed more than 29 million gallons of water, which led to low-pressure water flow for its host community, according to Politico.
“When you have Bernie Sanders and Greg Abbott singing a similar tune, you know that an issue has transcended traditional partisan politics. It shouldn’t be a surprise that Americans — left, right and center — are rising up against data centers,” Demand Progress AI Policy Advisor Colin McGlynn told the DCNF in a statement. “Big Tech CEOs have been going around talking and acting like cartoon supervillains while building computers the size of Manhattan. While the elites quibble, the message from the American people is clear: Big Tech has gone too far.”
Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders in December 2025 called for a moratorium on data center construction, per E&E News. Sanders and New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in March proposed the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act, a bill that would institute a nationwide pause on data center building until AI companies ensure that AI is safe and that AI usage would not increase electricity or utility prices, harm communities or destroy the environment.
Strategists on the Republican side say that the GOP should stop framing the data center debate as a national security issue.
“At times, Republicans have relied exclusively on America’s competition with China as an explanation for why data center construction is important. While that may be true and central to policy-making and long-term planning, it’s been an insufficient talking point to voters,” Mark Bednar, a principal at Monument Advocacy and former head of communications for Speaker Kevin McCarthy, told the DCNF.
Trump in September accused China of influencing Americans to dislike data centers, although he did not cite specific evidence to back up the claim during a Fox News interview. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith in June said that Chinese Communist Party aligned groups have donated to American nonprofits that protest data centers.
Graphika, a social media analytics firm, said that data center opposition was mostly homegrown and there is “very little evidence of significant foreign intervention,” according to WIRED.
That inability to sell America’s data center expansion to the public puts Democrats ahead in one September Fox News poll, with respondents giving Democrats a 14-point advantage over Republicans on the issue. The lead extends to black voters, those under 30, Hispanics and independents.
Only two percent of rural voters said data centers were the biggest problem facing their local community, according to a September Kaiser Family Foundation and Associated Press poll. That slice of the electorate is one of the few demographic groups to say Republicans would do better than Democrats, by only 4%, per the Fox News poll.
“Like any emerging technology, think of the fracking boom across America in the past several years, it’s essential for policymakers to discuss jobs, dollars brought in, sound environmental stewardship, and the direct benefits to modern American life. Economic competitiveness and foreign policy concerns with China can absolutely support the argument on why data centers matter day to day for communities and the country, but those points cannot be the focal point of the argument,”Bednar explained.
Some politicians are tapping into the populist anti-data center sentiment on the campaign trail, while others now benefit from some of the most well-funded pro-AI super PACs.
Leading the Future, backed by OpenAI President Greg Brockman and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, launched a $2 million investment that would boost Louisiana candidate Rep. Julia Letlow, Mississippi Sen. Cindy-Hyde-Smith, South Carolina Sen. Darline Graham and South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds.
The super PAC, through its Think Big PAC, announced in late September a six-figure ad campaign in support of Democrats including Ohio Rep. Emilia Sykes, Nevada Rep. Steven Horsford, New York Rep. Joe Morelle and Arizona Rep. Greg Stanton, according to Axios.
The super PAC expects to launch more campaigns soon as it has raised more than $140 million for the midterm elections, according to Reuters.
Partisan shifts around data centers can clearly be seen in two high-profile Senate races in Ohio and Michigan.
Former Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who hopes to oustRepublican Sen. Jon Husted this November, praised the construction of an Amazon data center in 2015 and was once more aligned with unions that sought to bring more data centers to Ohio. Yet, Brown has weaponized data centers against Husted in the race, according to News5 Cleveland.
The former senator is zeroing in on Husted’s past support for the tech projects, branding the Republican as “the face of data centers.”
“Jon Husted led the charge to bring data centers to Ohio, forcing Ohioans to pay thousands more in higher electric bills and giving giant out-of-state corporations billions of dollars in out-of-control tax breaks,” Lauren Chou, a campaign spokesperson for Brown’s campaign, told the DCNF in a statement.
“Husted is a ‘chief reason’ Ohio has 226 data centers and is ‘the face of data centers’ in Ohio. Ohioans should get to decide if data centers are built in their communities and should never be forced to subsidize the electricity costs of big corporations,” Chou added.
Husted has supported data centers, but he now seeks to address constituents’ concerns by authoring the Ratepayer Protection Act, a bill that aims to ensure that data center developers and AI companies pay the energy costs associated with the facilities, not local residents. Senate Democrats in late September blocked the advancement of the bill, 57-43, which the House adopted in mid-September with 417 lawmakers in favor and only three against.
“I am responding to what the voters want: They want the data centers to be held accountable for the costs of new electricity and infrastructure,” Husted told Politico. “I thought, ‘Well, if Democrats say they care about affordability and stopping data centers from running up electric costs, and Republicans say the same thing, well, then let’s just get this done.’”
The Husted campaign attacked Senate Democrats for blocking the legislation.
“After failing Ohio families during his 32 years in Washington, Sherrod Brown is once again resorting to lies instead of facing his abysmal record head-on. The House overwhelmingly passed Sen. Husted’s bipartisan legislation requiring data center companies to pay for the power they use, but Senate Democrats blocked it. Sherrod Brown and his friends would rather play politics and stick Ohio families with higher electric bills than pass a commonsense solution. It’s despicable,” Amy Natoce, a Husted campaign spokesperson, told the DCNF in a statement.
“Data centers are, and should remain, a local decision. Every community has different priorities, and local leaders are best equipped to decide what’s right for their residents,” Natoce said about Husted’s long-held stance on data centers.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) warned in an Augustmemo that Americans’ dislike for data centers could cost the GOP a key Senate seat in Ohio and hinder future AI development.
“Data centers are the anchor hanging around Husted’s neck. If he loses and data centers get the blame, politicians across the country will take notice — and they will not go near the next one,” the NRSC memo, which was addressed toAI companies, stated. Ohio serves as one of the top states for data center development and one OpenAI-backed project could become one of the largest such projects.
As Ohio approaches the November elections, Husted is struggling to keep pace with Brown, as a Marist Poll found he trailed the former senator by eight points, according to The National News Desk.
Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers in August voiced support for a “pause” on data center construction as part of his bid to secure the open seat against Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, according to Politico.
“While I don’t support a federal ban, Michigan needs stronger guardrails to protect community control, prevent utility price hikes, protect our water and stop pay-to-play schemes,” Rogers told the DCNF in a written statement.
“That is why I am calling for a one-year moratorium on new data centers until we establish a fair, transparent approval process that puts local communities first,” he continued.
Michiganders frequently ask the Rogers campaign about data centers and the campaign believes the backlash in the state stems from Michigan Democrats handling the issue poorly, a spokesperson said.
El-Sayed is calling for data centers to pay for their own energy demand, have communities have a say in project approvals, create local jobs, minimize water use and other mandates as part of his “Terms of Engagement for Data Centers” platform. The Democrat in July called for a statewide moratorium on data centers until federal guardrails are established, per the Sun Times News.
El-Sayed’s campaign referred the DCNF to the candidate’s Terms of Engagement for Data Centers platform and and pointed to his previous attacking Rogers on data centers.
The issue is being weaponized in high-stakes gubernatorial races, with both Republicans and Democrats scrambling to address data centers with voters.
“My message to data center developers is clear: if you can’t agree to our strict requirements and get the community where you want to build to say ‘yes,’ you’re not going to have the Commonwealth’s support either. These are some of the biggest companies in the world – they can afford to be good neighbors, follow the rules, and do this right,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said in August.
Shapiro’s order requires AI companies to obtain state permits, pay for the electricity cost, hire and train local workers, invest in local priorities and protect the environment, according to a press release from his office.
This is a stark contrast from his previously pro-AI stance, where he created a streamlined approval process in the state, which he referred to as a “game changer” in 2024, according to the Center Square. “The future of AI is going to run here through the commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said in 2025.
“Governor Shapiro took bold action by enacting the strictest guardrails in the nation to hold data center developers accountable and protect Pennsylvania communities. The Governor has made clear he will not allow developers to bulldoze our Commonwealth, bully our communities, or drive up our utility bills — and he will continue to use his authority to protect Pennsylvanians,” Manuel Bonder, a spokesperson for Shapiro’s campaign, told the DCNF.
Shapiro’s challenger, Republican Stacy Garrity, has attacked the governor’s apparent about-face on data centers. The governor’s campaign has taken a similar tack, calling out Garrity for supporting “aggressive deregulation and hundreds more data centers built all across Pennsylvania,” per WGAL, a Pennsylvania-based NBC news affiliate television station.
“Over a year ago, when he announced Amazon’s $20 billion data center deal, Josh Shapiro told us all the good things but forgot to tell Pennsylvania communities that data centers would impact their utility and water rates, develop precious farmland, and run over anyone who stood in their way. Along the way, Josh Shapiro raked in $5.7 million in campaign contributions from out-of-state data center interests,” a Garrity campaign spokesman told the DCNF in a statement.
The spokesman said that Garrity outlined her plans to hold data center developments accountable “months before Josh Shapiro did a 180” on them.
“Stacy Garrity will ensure data centers bring their own energy, bring their own water, are only developed on brownfield sites and old industrial land, and there needs to be community engagement agreements signed so data center developers have skin in the game for the long run. And finally, Stacy Garrity has called for a pause in all data center development so communities can bring their codes up to speed to address these proposals,” the Garrity spokesman added.
“Josh Shapiro sold Pennsylvania communities a false bill of goods and then he sold us out, and no amount of money will make voters forget that fact when they cast their ballots this November,” he concluded.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in August issued a pause on data centers as Texans disapprove of their construction in the state, the DCNF reported. Abbott leads Democratic opponent, State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, by four percent, per an August Emerson College survey. Abbott in 2016 sought to make Texas the “new tech mecca,” citing recent legislation passed in the state to exempt data center companies from collecting sales and use taxes from customers, he wrote in an op-ed at the time.
Abbott’s campaign did not respond to a DCNF request for comment. Hinojosa’s campaign also did not respond.
“If you’re in power right now and you are dealing with this issue, you have a target on your back,” Chris Borick, a political science professor at Lehigh University, told NPR in September.
“It’s a recognition that the ground shifted under their feet and they were not ready for that to happen,” he added.
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