Did a data centre revolt affect the US mid-term election results?
Summary
A voter poll found that data centres mattered to many Americans in the midterm elections, and most surveyed voters opposed building one in their community. The results do not show how many votes or Senate seats data-centre opposition changed, but elected officials in several states have proposed tighter rules that could raise costs or slow construction.Key Facts
- An AP and partner news organisations’ poll found 56% of surveyed voters called data centres a crucial or major factor in their vote.
- In the same poll, 76% of respondents said they would oppose a new data centre in their community; opposition was stronger among voters who said they voted Democrat.
- Government corruption and the cost of living ranked higher as major or crucial voting factors, at 90% and 89%, respectively.
- Texas, Ohio and Iowa, which elected Democratic senators, have 595, 258 and 117 data centres, respectively, compared with a median of 55 per state.
- Texas had 31 data-centre construction projects under way, the most of any state, according to the article.
- The article says state-level polling does not establish how many votes or Senate seats data-centre opposition changed.
- Proposals from elected officials in Texas, Georgia and Ohio include temporary construction bans, ending tax breaks, requiring developers to cover infrastructure costs and strengthening environmental safeguards.
- Official data cited in the article put inflation-adjusted U.S. spending on data-centre construction, excluding IT hardware, at $5 billion in August 2026—five times the 2023 level.
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