Republicans and Democrats Rarely Agree. On Data Centers, Candidates Are Promising Pauses

Opposition to new data centers has moved from county meetings into the 2026 campaign, with candidates for governor and Senate in Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio promising pauses, bans or bigger bills for the builders. ^[1]

The issue is still developing and has not produced one national policy. But it is now shared by Republicans and Democrats, which makes it hard for either party to wave away and could change where the next wave of AI computing capacity gets built.

A leaked memo from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, reported by The Verge, warned that attacks on data centers could threaten Ohio Senator Jon Husted's seat. It called the issue a "sleeper issue for the entire election cycle." ^[1][5] The memo is a leak, not a public statement by the committee.

What people are objecting to

Data centers are warehouses of computers that run AI models and other online services. They take a great deal of land, electricity and water. The fight is less about whether communities want AI than about who carries the cost of the plumbing and power lines behind it, and whether residents get a say.

Residents interviewed in Texas by CNBC listed water and power use, noise, light pollution, electricity bills and property values. Some also raised the longer-term effect of AI on jobs. ^[4] One real estate agent said he was a lifelong Republican who had voted for Donald Trump three times, and that the issue had made him question his political leanings. ^[4]

The numbers are rising. An Annenberg Public Policy Center survey, reported by Spotlight on America, found 61% of US adults opposed data center construction in their area, up 12 points in four months. The report said the opposition crossed party lines. ^[5]

State polls, which ask different questions of different samples and cannot be added together, point the same way.

In an August Texas Politics Project poll cited by CNBC, 57% of Texas voters opposed a data center in their community. That included 43% of Republicans, 54% of independents and 60% of rural voters. ^[4]

A Mason-Dixon poll of 625 Florida likely voters, taken from September 28 to October 1, found 45% opposed to data centers in the state and 38% in favor. Asked about one in their own community, 59% opposed and 30% supported. The margin of error was no more than four points. ^[2]

The gap between those two Florida answers is a familiar one. People tolerate the idea more easily than the neighbor.

Two parties, one grievance

In Pennsylvania, a Quinnipiac poll of 1,159 likely voters found 64% thought AI data centers in the state would do more harm than good, against 24% who expected more good. Eighty percent of Democrats and 72% of independents saw more harm. Republicans were split, 40% harm and 44% good. ^[3] The margin of error was 3.9 points. Opposition there is strongest on the left and in the middle, not evenly spread.

The candidates have noticed. In Texas, Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton both proposed making data centers bear the cost of energy infrastructure and ending some tax exemptions. Talarico added community input and closed-loop water systems, which recycle water instead of drawing fresh supplies. Paxton's plan added limits on Chinese technology and on rural development. ^[1]

Governor Greg Abbott announced an audit of proposed data centers seeking grid connections in August. CNBC reported that he later ordered the state's environmental regulator to halt data-center-related permits while the existing waitlist is audited. His campaign said he was acting to protect water and power and make data centers pay their own way. ^[1][4]

In Florida, Democrat David Jolly pledged a one-year ban on hyperscale data centers, the largest kind. Republican Byron Donalds opposes an outright ban and wants developers to fund the energy and water their operations need. ^[1]

In Pennsylvania, Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, signed an executive order barring nondisclosure agreements for data-center developers and pulled AI data-center proposals out of a fast-track permitting process. His Republican challenger, Stacy Garrity, supports a pause of up to three years, according to The Verge. ^[1]

In Ohio, local moratoriums have paused or blocked projects over water and electricity costs. Spotlight on America reported that state candidates Vivek Ramaswamy and Amy Acton each proposed conditions on development, though their approaches differed. ^[5]

The proposals run from "make them pay" to "stop for a year" to "stop for three." Opposition to current projects is not opposition to every data center.

What it means for the buildout

Spotlight on America reported that 20 states have enacted moratoriums or bans on data-center construction, with seven more advancing restrictions. That is the outlet's own tally, and nothing in our reporting verifies it. ^[5] Many local measures are probably temporary pauses or conditional rules, not bans.

No one has yet counted how many projects have been delayed, rejected or canceled, or how much planned computing capacity they represent. Without that figure, the damage to the AI buildout cannot be measured.

What can be said is that developers now face a harder sale. If they must fund their own power and water, as candidates in both parties propose, projects cost more. If permits stall, as in Texas, they take longer.

Both push builders to look at places where fewer residents are organized against them. Opposition polled at 60% among rural Texas voters, so the quiet county is no longer a safe bet. ^[4]

The polls do not show that data centers will decide any race. Donalds led Jolly 48% to 41% in the Florida poll, with 10% undecided, and that poll does not show what drove anyone's vote. ^[2] In Pennsylvania, Shapiro led Garrity 59% to 34%. ^[3]

Spotlight on America anticipated a coordinated public campaign by technology companies and developers to answer residents' worries. None has been reported yet. After the votes are counted in November, the question is whether the winners keep these promises, and whether the builders still choose to build where voters have told them they are not wanted.