Across the country, one issue is uniting voters across party, race, age, and class: opposition to AI data centers. At this critical juncture, with thousands of data centers already built and thousands in the works, everyday people are looking to their leaders to join the fight.  

People have made their opposition to water-guzzling, energy-hungry AI data centers known in a variety of ways. Poll after poll after poll illustrates data centers’ waning favor. People are organizing against data centers in their backyards, stopping or slowing $130 billion-worth of projects in the first three months of 2026 alone. Local leaders have passed more than 500 measures blocking data centers nationwide. And this November, voters in six states will vote directly on data center restrictions.

But voters have another opportunity to rein in the AI boom. This fall, midterm elections will decide the futures of local, state, and federal decision-making. And voters are already making their priorities clear. They want leaders who will stand with them against Big Tech and protect their communities from data center invasions. 

Opposing Data Centers Is a Winning Issue

As the dust settles from state primaries across the country, an unmistakable trend has emerged — winners have committed to taking on data centers. For instance, in Tennessee, Food & Water Action-endorsee State Representative Justin Pearson won the Democratic nomination in the newly gerrymandered 9th Congressional District. 

Justin has been a leader in fighting Elon Musk’s two enormous data centers in and near his hometown of Memphis, TN. Musk has powered these facilities with dozens of unregulated gas-fired turbines. Now, Justin has made data center opposition a key issue of his campaign. 

Meanwhile, in the House race for Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, our endorsee Will Lawrence won his primary on a platform that centered support for a nationwide moratorium on hyperscale data centers, overcoming millions of dollars in spending against him. 

Will’s first ad of the primary election was about stopping data centers; now his first ad of the general election is also about data centers. And Will’s Republican opponent is running ads trying to make himself look more like… Will. Fellow Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed also won his primary for U.S. Senator with a campaign focused in large part on data center opposition.

In Kansas, data center critics from both parties won their primaries for Governor, and the Democratic candidate has called for a moratorium, or pause, on data centers. Primary winners for the Ohio governor’s race also both backed a statewide moratorium.

Supporting Data Centers Is a Losing Game

While data center opposers are making waves at the polls, data center supporters are getting booted out of office. At the local level, data center decisions have driven residents to petition to recall (hold a special election to vote a sitting official out of office) more than 50 elected officials nationwide. 

In Utah, residents voted out State Senate President J. Stuart Adams for his role in approving the Stratos data center planned near the Great Salt Lake. Additionally, County commissioners who voted in favor of the project lost their primaries. The pattern has repeated in Virginia, Missouri, and North Carolina. 

Voters are making their wishes crystal clear. They want leaders who will stand strong with them against Big Tech’s AI data centers. Leaders who don’t or won’t will face the consequences at the ballot box. 

Data Center Opposition Is a Bipartisan Issue

The tides are quickly turning against data centers, and politicians who don’t follow the people will be caught in the undertow. While polls show that Democrats are more concerned about data centers than Republicans, this remains a bipartisan issue. 

A June Ipsos poll found that only 21% of Republicans support a data center being built within their community (compared to 9% of Democrats). In April, Maquette Law School found 62% of Republicans, 76% of Democrats, and 73% of Independents think the costs of data centers are greater than their benefits.

Current leaders and would-be electeds on both sides of the aisle have taken notice. While their measures fall short of the comprehensive moratorium on all new data centers that we need, they signal that more and more leaders on both sides of the aisle are starting to heed their constituents.

For example, in July, Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered the country’s first statewide moratorium. Cait Conley, the Food & Water Action-endorsed challenger in the state’s battleground 17th Congressional District, has attended rallies opposing data centers proposed in the region. She also applauded Hochul for the moratorium action. 

Meanwhile, Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has gone from an AI and data center booster to announcing a suspension of data centers statewide. But this comes as no surprise, as the Democratic opponent in his re-election bid pulls ahead in the polls. Additionally, the Republican Florida state legislature and Governor Ron DeSantis passed a bill to restrict data center development. 

In Virginia, state senators from both sides of the aisle have called on Governor Abigail Spanberger to issue a moratorium on data centers and take action on data center threats to the state’s groundwater. And in Ohio, all gubernatorial candidates of each party have called for data center restrictions.

Candidates Must Listen to the People: Stop Data Centers!

While data center opposition grows, Trump seems to have missed the memo. He’s called data centers “big, strong, bold, and Money Machines” and “Cash Cows, with Lower Taxes and Record Setting Jobs.” He’s said that ”any community that turns down AI is making a big mistake.”

But this comes as no surprise, considering that Trump entered the White House with the support of Big Tech oligarchs. However, any candidate hitching themselves to Trump’s rhetoric will find themselves stuck on a sinking ship. 

The strength of the opposition to data centers — and the way that’s borne out in elections — is especially powerful considering the heaps of cash Big Tech has injected into races across the country. 

Google, Meta, and investors of OpenAI have poured millions of dollars into super-PACs this year. The pro-AI super-PAC Leading the Future has raised a $140 million war chest, and tech billionaire Elon Musk has authorized his super-PAC to spend at least $100 million.

Despite all that, the growing movement against data centers is a powerful reminder that people power can and does overcome corporate power. 

This success is only possible because neighbors have joined neighbors across the country to stop data centers. From organizing rallies to knocking on doors, people are working tirelessly to protect their communities. And we’ll do the same to elect candidates who will join our fight.

Right now, candidates across the country would do well to ignore the siren song of Big Tech’s lofty promises and campaign donations. Data centers are now a defining issue of the 2026 midterms. Candidates ignore the voices of their current or would-be constituents at their own peril.