The US midterms on 3 November 2026 gave Democrats full control of Congress — and data centers became a ballot-box issue. A bigger clash over where and how they are built could be coming, as reported by TechCrunch on 5 November 2026.

What voters said

  • Over half of voters believe AI will do more harm than good, as per an NBC exit poll.
  • Almost 80% are against building data centers in their neighbourhoods.

Ohio in focus

  • In Ohio, a county where Meta planned a 700,000 sq ft facility passed a ban on data centers.
  • OpenAI has eyed a $500 billion data center in Ohio, backed by more than $100 billion in Nvidia financing.
  • Morgan Stanley says Democratic Governor-elect Amy Acton poses a major risk to the Ohio buildout.
  • Goldman Sachs predicts construction delays in Georgia and Texas as well.

Why it matters

Data centers need huge amounts of power and land, and local residents are pushing back over noise, power use, and water. xAI’s Memphis data center, which uses gas turbines, was also cited in the debate.

The clash is now political as well as local — with Congress, governors, and tech companies all pulling in different directions.

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