Data Center Backlash Reshapes 2026 Races Across Nine States

Super PACs tied to the AI industry have spent or raised at least $129 million on the 2026 election cycle while candidates in at least nine states compete over who can be tougher on data centers. Leading the Future, a super PAC backed by venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and OpenAI President Greg Brockman, has already spent $45 million in a year. Public First Action, an Anthropic-backed group that says it supports AI safeguards, says it has raised $80 million. Both have funded Democratic- and Republican-aligned groups.

The money is flowing against a current of voter anger. The rapid buildout of massive server storage facilities — and the infrastructure construction and expenses that come with them — has sparked local opposition in communities across the country and become a major issue in congressional and gubernatorial campaigns. Some midterm races, as one framing in the source puts it, come down to "people who hate data centers" versus "people who hate them even more." Another recently created group, Tomorrow Together, launched $4 million in ads for battleground House races, with messages about data center development and AI safety and an agenda of stricter AI policy.

What do candidates actually propose?

The pattern repeats across the map. Candidates distance themselves from data centers, propose guardrails, or back outright moratoriums. Many Democratic candidates lean toward a pause, though not all. Some Republicans lean on party messaging about local control, but others say a pause is exactly what the moment calls for.

Why is Texas a bellwether?

Deep red Texas has the second-highest number of planned data center projects in the country after Virginia, and data centers have emerged as a key wedge issue across multiple races.

In the Senate race, Democratic candidate and State Rep. James Talarico unveiled his "Hold Data Centers Accountable Plan" in July. It would end state sales tax incentives, give communities more of a say in development, require a closed-loop water system (a system that recirculates water rather than drawing fresh supplies) in new data centers, and create federal standards to protect the energy grid and environment. Talarico has also proposed an "AI Dividend" for Americans funded by a tax on "AI-attributable profits."

Republican candidate and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton counters with the "Texas First Data Center Plan," unveiled in August. It would support Gov. Greg Abbott's state-level policies: repealing sales tax exemptions for data centers, requiring them to pay for the electricity they use and add to state capacity, and preventing AI data centers from building in rural parts of the state. On the federal level, Paxton says he would co-sponsor an existing bill making it easier for data centers to connect to off-grid power systems, introduce legislation prohibiting the use of Chinese technology to power US data centers or infrastructure, and hold data center companies criminally liable if a facility "empowers AI chatbots that undermine children's safety."

In the governor's race, Democratic challenger and State Rep. Gina Hinojosa has accused Republican incumbent Abbott of "flip-flopping." Abbott's office put out a press release last year celebrating a $40 billion Google investment that would include three new data center campuses. In August 2026, with campaign season heating up, he announced an audit that could slow new facilities connecting to the state energy grid. Hinojosa, who has called for a statewide moratorium on development, said in a social media video: "Greg Abbott has zero credibility here. Nobody believes that the arsonist is about to put out the fire." The Cook Political Report moved the governor's race this month from likely Republican to leans Republican, and rates the open Senate field a toss-up.

Ban or regulate? Florida's fork

The Florida governor's race poses the starkest choice. Democratic candidate and former congressman David Jolly has pledged to install a one-year ban on hyperscale data centers on his first day in office and has not ruled out a permanent extension. In one ad, Jolly puts data centers in the same breath as crime in a list of things he does not want in Florida.

His Republican opponent, Congressman Byron Donalds, previously said Florida is "wide open" to build without destroying the state's beauty. He has since changed his tune. In July, Donalds introduced the Protecting Ratepayers Act, which would require data center developers to fund the energy and water needed to run their operations. He has also supported a state law with similar requirements and environmental guardrails. "In my Florida, if you don't protect our pocketbooks and our people, you won't build data centers, period," he says in one ad. Energy experts have warned that his pledge to lean on nuclear and natural gas could actually raise costs for consumers.

Opponents have branded him "Data Center Donalds." An October NBC6/Telemundo Station Group poll found 45 percent of likely voters opposed data centers in Florida, 38 percent in support, and 17 percent undecided. In their own communities, opposition rose to 59 percent. Donalds still leads 48 percent to Jolly's 41 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent and 10 percent undecided.

How did Pennsylvania's candidates reverse course?

In one of the country's few purple states, both candidates for governor have accused each other of changing their rhetoric to win votes. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro proudly announced a $20 billion Amazon investment last year that would bring new data centers to the state, crediting Pennsylvania's new fast-track permitting program. This year, he signed an executive order in August prohibiting nondisclosure agreements for data center developers and took AI data center proposals off the fast track. Shapiro says his views evolved based on community feedback.

Republican challenger and state Treasurer Stacy Garrity has also turned. In a radio interview last year, she said rural parts of the state would be "perfect places to put data centers" and praised the Amazon deal that now features in her attack ads. This year, she says developers must engage the community rather than "jam it down their throats," and supports a development pause of no more than three years, according to Spotlight PA.

An early October Quinnipiac University poll of likely Pennsylvania voters found 64 percent believed AI data centers would do more harm than good, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percent. Among Democratic respondents, 80 percent said more harm. Shapiro leads 59 percent to Garrity's 34 percent.

Why does the Ohio memo matter nationally?

A leaked National Republican Senatorial Committee memo called data centers "the new ingredient (and the new problem)" in Ohio's Senate race. Republican incumbent Jon Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown, fighting to win back his former seat, "are in a dead heat," the NRSC warned in August. Data centers, the group added, "are the anchor hanging around Husted's neck."

Brown has labeled Husted "the face of data centers" in the state, hammering him over tax breaks he helped install as lieutenant governor. Husted says local communities should decide whether to bring in data centers. He introduced the Ratepayer Protection Act, requiring large load customers like data centers to cover their own energy costs and infrastructure upgrades. The bill passed the House but narrowly failed in the Senate, even with some Democrats voting in favor. The NRSC memo carries a national warning: "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." Cook rates the race a toss-up; a RealClear Polling average shows Brown with a slight edge.

What about Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, Georgia, Arizona and Iowa?

Michigan is handling dozens of new data center proposals, and both Senate candidates back a moratorium. Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers supports a one-year pause but opposes a federal ban. Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, a former public health official, says there should be "no more data centers until we can do it safely and with federal protections." Rogers's moratorium support came days after The Lever reported on his investments that reportedly stand to gain from the buildout. Politico wrote in February that "underdogs" like El-Sayed were centering data centers in their primary campaigns. Cook rates the race — for the seat of retiring Democrat Gary Peters — a dead heat with potential to decide congressional control. In a toss-up House race, Democrat William Lawrence, who called for a year-long federal moratorium, saw supporters chant "data centers lost" when he won the nomination; Republican incumbent Tom Barrett introduced two bills strengthening local decision-making and barring federal lawmakers from signing non-disclosure agreements about data centers.

In Wisconsin, neither gubernatorial candidate backs a moratorium. Democrat David Crowley declined to oppose one in his primary and now says he would sign a bill repealing tax subsidies; Republican Tom Tiffany voted for faster permitting but brands his opponent "data center David Crowley." Cook calls it a dead heat.

Nevada's Democratic Party built a website branding Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo "data center Joe," citing his past support and AI-connected donations. Lombardo introduced an executive order last month tying tax incentives to developers covering power costs and meeting water use standards, with clawback powers. Democrat Aaron Ford would pause tax breaks entirely — though he championed a 2015 bill enshrining data center tax breaks. "The data centers of 11 years ago are not the data centers of 2026," Ford says. Cook rates it a toss-up.

In Georgia, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms supports a pause to evaluate environmental and cost effects; Republican Rick Jackson favors local control. At a recent debate in the toss-up race, Bottoms said Jackson "cannot be trusted" given his investment in a Texas data center, while Jackson noted she approved tax breaks for multiple data centers as Atlanta mayor. Bottoms denied this, saying she approved one non-hyperscale facility not near homes; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the Invest Atlanta board she led approved up to $440 million in bonds for a Georgia Tech mixed-use project that included a smaller data center and received tax abatement.

Arizona's conflict runs within parties. Attorney General Kris Mayes supports a statewide pause, saying the state should "take a beat" on water and energy needs, while Gov. Katie Hobbs says data centers are here to stay and the state should make them work for communities. Republican Warren Petersen offered a rare outright defense: "If you like your tech and your phone and your computer and the stuff you can use that for, you probably think data centers are important."

Iowa's open governor's race features Democrat Rob Sand, who would end tax breaks, make data centers cover their own costs, and keep NDAs from shielding deals, against Republican Zach Lahn, who calls for a moratorium and elimination of tax incentives.

The through-line is stark. With $129 million in AI-linked money already in the field, and voters from both parties opposing local buildouts by wide margins, the 2026 midterms will function as a referendum on who pays for the physical footprint of AI — and the Ohio memo suggests that a single high-profile loss could freeze political support for the industry nationwide.