Voters reject data centers in all but one ballot measure as Democrats win control of Congress
In an exit poll, almost 80% of respondents said they oppose data centers in their neighborhoods.
Data centers became a ballot-box issue in the November 3 US midterm elections. CNBC reports that voters rejected data centers in every data center-related ballot measure except one, out of 41 such measures it tracked. The elections also gave Democrats full control of Congress, while Republicans hold the White House. TechCrunch writes that the results suggest anger over the facilities that power AI is becoming a political force. With Democrats now running Congress, that could lead to new limits on where data centers can be built and on how much say local communities have. An NBC exit poll found that more than half of respondents believe AI will do more harm than good. Almost 80% said they oppose building data centers in their neighborhoods, and almost 60% said data centers were a crucial or major factor in their vote. Nadine Smith, president and CEO of the racial justice group Color of Change, called the election a referendum on "who this economy is built for," and pointed to families in South Memphis breathing exhaust from gas turbines that power xAI's data center there. For AI companies that need more computing capacity, the results point to more local opposition and closer scrutiny from Congress of where they build and how they power their facilities.