US midterms hand data center limits a wide win, and the AI buildout faces delays

Voters lean toward restricting data centers

Data center development was on the ballot in many places during Tuesday's US midterm elections, and restrictions mostly prevailed. TechCrunch reports that voters decided 41 data center ballot measures and, in all but one, a majority chose tighter limits. The Verge counts 45 local measures, and Ars Technica, citing a tracker from the polling firm Redbud Consulting, counts 44 across 10 states. The sources also differ on how many passed: Ars Technica reports 38 restrictive outcomes, while The Verge, using the same Redbud site early on Wednesday, put the figure at 33.

The measures include a 180-day moratorium on large data centers in Wells, Maine, backdated to mid-June 2026, according to The Verge. Several Ohio cities voted to ban facilities above 25MW, and El Dorado, Kansas, chose a 10-year ban on data centers whose peak electrical load exceeds 10MW. Ars Technica says the single measure that let a project go ahead still required developers in a North Dakota city to pay for independent reviews and hold public hearings.

The Verge cites NBC News polling on Election Day in which 76 percent of voters said they opposed data centers in their communities. Ars Technica adds that, in the same polling, cost of living and government corruption ranked above AI and data centers as voter concerns.

Governors and senators who favor pauses

The Verge details a string of races in which data center policy figured. In Texas, Democrat Gina Hinojosa won the governor's office from Republican Greg Abbott, and The Verge says she supports a statewide moratorium. Democrat James Talarico also won the Senate seat over Ken Paxton, and both candidates had wanted to remove some tax exemptions for data centers. In Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed won a Senate seat after calling for a pause on new developments until they can proceed safely with federal protections. In Maine, Democrat Troy Jackson, who backed a state moratorium, defeated Sen. Susan Collins. In Ohio, Sherrod Brown retook a Senate seat from Jon Husted, whom he had linked to data centers throughout the campaign.

The Verge cautions that a direct line from data center backlash to any individual result is hard to draw. Republican Byron Donalds won Florida's governor's race while opposing an outright ban, with about 50 percent of the vote to David Jolly's 48.7 percent, per NBC News figures cited by the outlet. Iowa's Rob Sand won after opposing a moratorium that his challenger favored. Democrats also took governor's races in Georgia, Nevada, Arizona and Ohio, according to the reports, and in Wisconsin neither finalist backed a moratorium, though both said they wanted to end state tax subsidies for data centers.

What analysts expect for the AI buildout

Ars Technica relays analysis from Axios and Bloomberg. Texas was expected to supply more than 41 percent of added US data center capacity in 2028, and Hinojosa has said she would delay projects until laws address water, electricity, air and property rights. Bloomberg reports that about 13 gigawatts of capacity is now exposed. Gordon Johnson of GLJ Research wrote that Texas projects that already have power, permits and steel should keep moving, while those lacking state environmental permits could slip by 12 to 18 months. Axios projects that nearly two-thirds of 2028 capacity could face similar delays, and Bloomberg estimates that half of US data centers are now more exposed to scrutiny.

Analysts quoted by Ars Technica say projects already under construction or approved through 2027 should be largely unaffected, with the main impact falling on future projects planned for 2028. PIMCO's head of public policy, Libby Cantrill, expects more time to be needed for permits and approvals, plus more concessions from developers, even without statewide moratoria. Natixis economist Gary Ng told the South China Morning Post that a slowdown in the US could benefit China, though he does not expect the buildout to stop completely.

Competing readings of the result

Adam Kovacevich, a former Google executive who now runs the tech trade group Chamber of Progress, argued that the results offer little proof of a voter mandate to crack down on AI. He pointed out that Democratic gubernatorial candidates who opposed data center bans won more often than those who supported them, and said the vote should be read as anti-Trump rather than anti-tech, according to Ars Technica.

Alejandra Montoya-Boyer of The Leadership Conference's Center for Civil Rights and Technology disagreed, calling the midterms the first true AI election in the US. She cited NBC polling in which more than half of voters said AI and data centers were a crucial or major factor in their congressional vote. Brad Carson of Americans for Responsible Innovation told Axios that voters want rules for AI and data centers. Other analysts quoted by Axios said voters seemed more worried about efforts to block state AI regulation than about data center disputes.

TechCrunch's Equity podcast also discussed the election's implications for the tech industry, including more government scrutiny of Big Tech. The show notes add that OpenAI is already trying to rebrand data centers.