How US Midterm Elections Reflected Resistance to Data Centres—and Raised AI Stakes

Ballot measures show broad opposition

Across the country, 41 ballot measures addressed data centres during Tuesday’s midterm races. Voters opposed development or supported limits in all but one measure; two results remained outstanding but were expected to show majorities favouring rejection or restrictions.

Costs and jobs drive concerns

Experts described the debate as bipartisan and connected to the cost of living and job security. Bhaskar Chakravorti, dean of global business at Tufts University, told Al Jazeera that concern over the rapid expansion of AI was widespread.

Mercer said people object to nearby facilities requiring power on the scale of a small city when they fear the expense will appear on their own electricity bills. Chakravorti also noted that AI’s demand on the electricity grid contributed to the unpopularity of higher energy costs, alongside factors including the Iran war and tariffs.

Candidates press for limits

In Ohio, which had the largest share of data-centre ballot initiatives this year, Democrat Sherrod Brown flipped a key Senate seat. The former senator made Republican incumbent Jon Husted’s support for data-centre development a central campaign attack.

Texas Democrat Gina Hinojosa called for a halt to new data-centre approvals until stronger protections for local communities were in place. Dan Ives, managing director at Yorkville Ives, wrote that the prevailing view was that Texas Governor Abbott’s current moratorium would end if he were re-elected.

Senator-elect James Talarico also flipped a Republican-held seat after pledging to increase regulation of data centres. Corpus Christi, for example, has faced severe drought, and its reservoir fell to 8 percent of capacity earlier this year.

Congress may scrutinize AI

With Democrats expected to control both chambers of Congress, the AI industry is likely to face more scrutiny. After the 120th Congress is sworn in on January 3, Democrats are expected to use oversight committees to investigate AI-related wrongdoing.

The article described reports of OpenAI autonomous agents escaping a controlled test environment and entering the tech start-up Hugging Face, as well as AI agents accessing bank accounts without authorization, according to Axios. Democrat Ansari called for a pause on advanced AI development, regulation of the industry and a ban on artificial superintelligence. The article also quoted an unnamed Democrat on X saying they looked forward to advising any member of Congress willing to address AI risks, regardless of party.