Data centers top of mind ahead of midterms – WEAU

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) – Data centers have become a centerpiece issue for candidates running for office across the country ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Both Democrats and Republicans are trying to tap into backlash against data centers and are using them as a major focal point in their campaigns.
Protests against data centers continue to pop up across the nation as 2026 candidates increasingly turn their attention to the issue.
State Rep. James Talarico, the Texas Democratic Senate nominee, said the issue requires action from federal lawmakers.
“We need a senator who’s actually going to fight to rein in some of these companies and ensure that these data center projects are meeting the demands of folks who live in these communities,” he said.
The large windowless buildings fueling the artificial intelligence boom have become a key issue for office-seekers running at the federal, state and local levels.
Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Rep. Tom Tiffany (R) said he wants conditions placed on data centers.
“No data centers unless they meet the following conditions. We’re going to end the subsidies that were signed into law a couple years ago they do not need to be subsidized by tax payers,” Tiffany said.
The interest in data centers on the campaign trail comes as new national polling finds rising opposition that crosses party lines.
According to the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center survey, about three in five Americans now oppose local data centers, and majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents are not in favor of them.
University of Michigan Public Policy Professor Shobita Parthasarathy said opposition has grown in recent months.
“Opposition began. But it has really accelerated, I think over the last I would say even just six months,” Parthasarathy said.
She said she thinks data centers are a proxy for broader concerns about artificial intelligence and inequality and that the issue may drive some voters to the polls.
“People are just sort of increasingly alienated, alienated, fed up and and as I said, exercised by it in a way that I’ve never seen before. So I think it’s entirely possible that they could be motivated to go out to vote on that issue,” Parthasarathy said.
Other political analysts say the outcome of the midterms could shape data center policy for years to come.
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