Opposition to artificial intelligence data centers helped shape Tuesday's midterm elections. According to the NBC News Exit Poll, 56% of voters said the issue was a crucial or major factor in their vote for Congress, and 76% said they opposed building a data center in their own community.
The same poll found that 57% of voters believe AI will do more to hurt society than help it.
Data centers still ranked behind government corruption, the cost of living, immigration enforcement and the war with Iran as voting issues, Data Center Dynamics reported. On local ballots, though, voters were direct. Communities in at least 38 jurisdictions approved bans or tighter rules on data centers Tuesday, The Washington Post reported.
In Pataskala, Ohio, a measure banning large data centers passed with about 73% of the vote, according to Licking County election results.
Democrats built campaigns around the issue. The party spent more than $100 million on broadcast ads portraying Republican candidates as too close to Big Tech and data centers, Time reported. In Ohio, Democrat Sherrod Brown, who won the Senate race, ran ads calling Republican Sen. Jon Husted "the face of data centers in Ohio."
For many voters, the concern is practical. Polling by the progressive firm Blue Rose Research found Americans would rather live near a prison, a methadone clinic or a nuclear power plant than an AI data center. The firm's research director, Ali Mortell, said local effects such as higher energy bills, noise and environmental concerns weighed more heavily on voters than fears about AI itself.
The backlash may not stay a Republican problem. Time noted that Democrats, now in control of Congress, could face the same pressure from voters.