As voters head to the polls Tuesday, roughly 20 communities will decide whether to ban, pause or limit data center construction — turning local ballot measures into an early test of President Donald Trump’s strategy to build more facilities to power American artificial intelligence.
The measures in states like Ohio, Florida, Maine and Kansas follow the roughly 400 moratoriums and bans already enacted by communities over concerns that data centers are a drain on electricity, water and land. Many of the communities with measures on the ballot Tuesday are in Republican-led districts, highlighting a fissure within Trump’s own base to his call for the U.S. to dominate the race to develop artificial intelligence.
Of the 20 communities voting on ballot initiatives next week to ban or pause data center construction in their area, 13 are in Republican-led districts.
“Someone can support American leadership in AI and still have reservations about the kind of development they want in their community,” said Joseph Hoefer, principal and chief AI officer at bipartisan lobbying firm Monument Advocacy. “That’s why party affiliation only tells companies so much about how a community will approach these decisions,” he added.
Trump’s stance on data centers has shifted in recent weeks. The president has repeatedly touted data centers as economic boosters for communities and criticized opposition to the infrastructure despite the growing public backlash across both parties. But he softened his stance last week by suggesting data center developers pay a “dividend” to communities to garner support for the projects.
The White House also reached voluntary agreements with leading tech companies earlier this year for developers to bring, buy or build their own power for data centers.
A spokesperson for the White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Ohio has the most measures, with 18 communities voting on petitions to ban or pause data centers. A statewide petition to ban data centers over 25 megawatts — enough to power up to 25,000 homes — failed to make the ballot but is mirrored in nine up for a vote Tuesday.
Nick Owens, a lifelong Republican who voted for Trump, and Austin Baurichter, who describes himself as a “left-leaning independent,” founded political action committee Conserve Ohio and pushed the statewide initiative. The duo helped 10 local communities in Ohio get their own measures on the ballot.
Stephanie Justice, policy communications manager at Americans for Responsible Innovation, a pro-AI safety nonprofit that launched a playbook detailing how communities can respond to potential data center projects, told POLITICO that local ballot initiatives are “giving people a voice in a moment in which they felt like they haven’t had one.”
“Communities should feel empowered to do what’s best for them and what’s right for them, and have a seat at the negotiating table,” Justice said.
The Data Center Coalition, a trade group representing the industry, has pushed back against the measures, warning it could undercut economic development. The association launched a national ad campaign earlier this year called America Connects aimed at highlighting the economic benefits brought on by data centers.
“Unfortunately, ballot measures to restrict or prohibit data center development would send a signal that the area is closed for business, both for data centers and for other significant economic development projects,” Dan Diorio, executive vice president of state policy and government affairs at the Data Center Coalition, said in a statement.
“It would deprive local communities of the opportunity to compete for investment and jobs — forcing them to relinquish significant long-term economic investment, high-wage jobs and critical tax revenue to neighboring areas,” he added.
Voters in Ottawa, Kansas, will consider a ballot measure similar to those in Ohio’s local communities. The city will vote on an initiative to prohibit building data centers over 25 MW. Franklin County, where Ottawa is located, heavily favored Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
Michael Lewis, a Democrat and representative for Ottawa United, a nonprofit created to support the Ottawa data center measure, said the ballot initiative was crafted after concerns about a proposed data center campus “went on deaf ears.”
The ballot initiative has also drawn outside influence. Defend US PAC, a Virginia-based super PAC, launched a “Vote No” campaign against the Ottawa measure and a similar ballot initiative in Emporia, Kansas, pouring $3,743 into advertising opposing the ballot questions from July 23 through Oct. 20.
“It’s expected,” Lewis, who is also running for Kansas’ 59th District, said of the opposition campaign. “I’m sure the Big Tech industry might be looking at this as if we’re setting a precedent for other communities.”
Community members across the political spectrum have pushed back on proposed data centers, prompting candidates on both sides of the aisle to reframe their messaging around the issue. In Ohio’s contentious Senate race, both GOP incumbent Sen. Jon Husted and former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown have pivoted from their pro-data center stance as voter outlook on the AI hubs grows increasingly negative.
Americans are now more likely to oppose candidates who are pro-data center construction, according to recent results from The POLITICO Poll. The opposition also bleeds across party lines, with 36% of Republican midterm voters and 65% of Democratic midterm voters saying they would oppose or strongly oppose a data center being built within 3 miles of their home.
Democratic candidates hoping to unseat Republican incumbents in the House are responding to the public backlash with more stringent proposals to crack down on the infrastructure, proposals that mirror a bill introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in March.
Progressive activist Will Lawrence, who is running against Republican Rep. Tom Barrett for Michigan’s 7th District, and Democratic candidate Rebecca Cooke, in her bid for Republican incumbent Rep. Derrick Van Orden‘s seat in Wisconsin’s 3rd District, have both called for a federal moratorium on data centers.
Justice predicted that public opposition will continue, as concerns around AI more generally become a larger issue for federal lawmakers post-election.
“Tech companies, potential 2028 candidates and members of Congress alike will really need to find their footing on this issue,” she said.
