In November 2026, American voters did something few political analysts predicted: they voted overwhelmingly against building data centers in their districts. Forty-one data center-related ballot measures were put to referendums across 10 states. In 40 of them, voters rejected expansion. It was the largest popular rejection of AI infrastructure in American electoral history.
Will Lawrence, a Democratic candidate in Michigan's 7th congressional district, was the sharpest symbol of this phenomenon. A co-founder of the Sunrise Movement — the grassroots organization that helped put the Green New Deal on the national agenda — Lawrence turned his 2026 campaign into a manifesto against the unregulated development of hyperscale data centers. And he won. He defeated Republican incumbent Tom Barrett, a one-term holder of the seat, in a district that had been considered one of Michigan's most competitive.
Opposition to data centers was not born from the left. What changed was the scale of the problem. According to Cleanview data, there are 2,841 data centers planned in the United States, with a combined capacity of 413,152 megawatts — equivalent to dozens of nuclear power plants. To put it in perspective: President Donald Trump issued an executive order in 2025 making it a "priority of my administration to facilitate the rapid and efficient construction of this infrastructure, alleviating federal regulatory burdens."
But the practical effects of this massive construction began to clash with local reality. In Michigan, 11 data centers were planned. The 700MW and US$10 billion project proposed in Delhi Township faced such fierce opposition that the township approved a one-year moratorium on data center review — something unthinkable in 2024.
Pew Research polling showed that 75% of Americans now oppose the construction of a data center in their area, up from 42% the previous year. The shift was so rapid that Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told the Detroit News: "It wasn't that long ago politicians were fighting to bring data centers to their communities. Now these facilities are completely controversial, and many people don't want them in their neighborhoods."
Will Lawrence entered the congressional race in August 2025 already declaring opposition to data center construction. The context was specific: hyperscale projects were being proposed in Vevay Township and Mason, in the same district Lawrence sought to represent. He did not make the issue an afterthought — it was the central theme of his campaign.
According to The Intercept, Lawrence used local town halls as platforms to expose the real costs of data centers: drinking water consumption, strain on the local power grid, and vague promises of community investment. One Mason resident, Kelly Kussmaul, summed up the anti-data center sentiment of the community: "The president might not want a data center next to his house, but he wants one next to mine, and someday maybe yours. That's why we need representatives like Will Lawrence."
The strategy worked. Lawrence secured Bernie Sanders' endorsement, who called him a candidate who "will demand real accountability for big tech." On November 4, when election results were counted, Lawrence had defeated Barrett.
Lawrence was just one in a wave of anti-data center candidates. Data from Data Center Watch showed that, in the 36 states that elected governors, 43% of candidates examined supported bans or moratoria on new projects, and 51% favored additional regulation. Only 5% had no public position.
The phenomenon was cross-partisan: Democratic candidate Gina Hinojosa defeated Republican governor Greg Abbott in Texas — the world's second-largest data center market, with 6.5GW of capacity under development. In Ohio, Senator Sherrod Brown, defeated in 2024, returned to the Senate using data center opposition as a central campaign theme.
Ballot measures were even more lopsided. According to Wired, in 40 of 41 votes related to data centers, voters rejected expansion. Only in Harwood, North Dakota, was the expansion measure approved.
The election results create an unprecedented political scenario for AI policy in the United States. Democrats took control of the Senate and the House after the midterms, meaning that data center opposition now has institutional representation in Congress. Representative Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), who is likely to chair the House Natural Resources Committee, said voters showed "they don't want this dirty, fossil-fuel-expanding bill."
For the AI industry, political risk is real and growing. A Politico Poll report showed that two weeks before the elections, half of Americans already opposed data center construction within three miles of their homes. More than 50% of voters said data centers and AI were a "major" factor in their votes — an extraordinary number for infrastructure.
Elon Musk himself acknowledged the shift on X, after Republicans' defeat in Texas (where his SpaceX has significant operations): "Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn't work this time," he wrote. "Data centers in space are looking pretty appealing right now."
The AI industry has begun to respond. In November, the co-chairs of the AI Infrastructure Coalition, a new industry group, wrote an op-ed for Fox News addressing the environmental impacts of data centers, signaling that the industry recognizes the growing political pressure. At the same time, more than 230 environmental groups sent a letter to Congress in June, warning that AI and data centers are "threatening Americans' economic, environmental, climate and water security."
The question remains: when 75% of the population opposes something that the federal administration is trying to impose by executive order, how long will Trump's order to "alleviate regulatory burdens" last? The courts still have the final say, but political power has clearly shifted. Data center opposition is no longer an environmental niche issue — it is a political force that has already won elections, defeated governors, and is ready to dictate the terms of the debate on the future of artificial intelligence in the country.
Sources: The Intercept, The Register, WIRED
✓ Independent sources cross-checked and verified before publishing
