Data center backlash is uniting America

If there’s one issue that seems to activate all kinds of voters in 2026, it’s data centers. The rapid buildout of these massive server storage facilities — and the infrastructure construction and expenses that come with them — has sparked local opposition in communities across the country and become a major issue in many congressional and gubernatorial campaigns.At the same time, tech money has been pouring into many of these races. Leading the Future, a super PAC backed by venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and OpenAI President Greg Brockman, has already spent $45 million in a year. And Public First Action, an Anthropic-backed group that says it supports AI safeguards, says it’s raised $80 million. Both have funded Democratic and Republican-aligned groups. Other super PACs see an opportunity to push for stricter AI policies, like the recently created Tomorrow Together, which launched $4 million in ads for battleground House races, with messages about data center development and AI safety.All sorts of candidates appear to be distancing themselves from data centers and taking steps to assuage voters’ concerns about unconstrained buildouts in their backyards. How far they’re willing to go — including by backing an outright moratorium on development — varies. While many Democratic candidates seem likelier to back a pause, that’s not always the case. And though some Republicans have leaned on party messaging about putting development in local control, rather than supporting a ban, others say a pause is exactly what the moment calls for.Texas gubernatorial and Senate racesDeep red Texas has the second-highest number of planned data center projects in the country after Virginia, and across multiple races, data centers have emerged as a key wedge issue. Democratic and Republican candidates are all trying to look tough on data centers but emphasize different messages in their plans. For example, in the Senate race, Democratic candidate and State Rep. James Talarico includes references to environmental impact and sharing corporate profit with the public, while Republican candidate and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton discusses the need to keep Chinese technology out of US data centers. Both, however, want data centers to bear their own energy infrastructure-related costs and want to do away with certain tax exemptions for them.In July, Talarico unveiled his “Hold Data Centers Accountable Plan,” which would end state sales tax incentives, give communities more of …