Data centre backlash reshapes US midterm election landscape

A US senator who ignored data centres a year ago now holds regular staff meetings on them and is drafting legislation to curb their rapid expansion. That shift, according to a senior policy adviser to the Democratic senator, reflects a wave of public anger that has forced politicians at every level to take a stand. The adviser, who spoke anonymously because they were not permitted to speak to the press, said, “This happens sometimes, something starts slow and then it goes fast.”

Data centres are large warehouses filled with rows of computer chips, sometimes seven feet high, that store processing power for internet activity. They have become the physical embodiment of explosive AI growth and the varied fears associated with it. In Indiana, Angelita Soriano lives across the street from a new Amazon data centre that will include a 26-building structure covering more than one square mile and 782 diesel-powered generators. “I don’t want to be the guinea pig for this,” she said.

Local anger goes national

The backlash has spread quickly. About 3,000 data centres operate in the US today, and Pew Research Center says that number could double in the next few years. But because data centres are approved through very local rules and permits, federal lawmakers have little direct say. Still, opposition has grown so strong that politicians now feel required to weigh in. Chloe Autio, an AI policy adviser, said, “This isn’t just an issue on the left, there is huge pushback among conservatives to data centres.” She added that whoever articulates a clear position and sticks to it stands to benefit.

That dynamic puts many on Capitol Hill, including Republicans, in direct conflict with President Donald Trump. Trump has championed unrestrained growth of AI technology and called the backlash a “sick conspiracy,” saying people and towns that resist are “backwards and poor.” His comments have become a boon to Democratic politicians seeking midterm votes. In Arizona, Governor Katie Hobbs was initially a proponent but reversed course after public pressure, enacting a three-year pause on new tax breaks for data centre projects. In Michigan, Democrat Abdul El Sayed made data centre rules a central part of his successful Senate primary campaign. And in Georgia, a Democrat calling for a pause on data centre development is in a dead heat with a Republican who disagrees.

Republicans scramble to reframe

Ohio Republican Senator John Husted is fighting to keep his seat against Democrat Sherrod Brown. Recent polls show a majority of Ohio voters oppose data centres. Husted has softened his support, saying local citizens and elected officials should decide. Brown has campaigned against new data centres and leads Husted in recent polls. The National Republican Senatorial Committee wrote in a private memo that Republican politicians needed to entirely reframe how they spoke to voters on data centres. “This has become a sleeper issue for the entire election cycle,” the memo said.

Community groups organising against data centres have more than doubled this year to 833, according to Data Center Watch, a project of AI startup 10a Labs. Stephanie Maldonado, political director of the Arizona group LUCHA, called the pushback “a David and Goliath story” that began years ago. “Now, people are angry,” she said. In Texas, where almost 300 data centres operate and another 170 are planned, Governor Greg Abbott once boasted the state was “the epicentre of AI development.” But within months he backtracked, citing concerns of “safety and quality of life.” Democrat James Talarico’s Senate campaign is pushing to end “sweetheart tax deals” for Big Tech.