In the 3 November US midterms, more than 40 data-centre-related measures were on the ballot in 13 states, and by 404 Media's count 38 went against data centres. NBC's exit poll found 56% of voters calling AI and data centres a 'crucial or major factor' in their House vote, and mayors who had backed data-centre projects were recalled. Deepfakes, by contrast, were not reported to have swung any major race, while OpenAI and Anthropic ran dedicated election teams.
Six outright bans and twelve power caps
By 404 Media's tally, six cities voted to ban data centres outright and twelve set limits on the power such facilities may draw. Emporia, Kansas, passed a ban on 'high-impact' data centres, and the mayor of Yukon, Oklahoma, lost a recall after backing a hyperscale project. TIME reports the mayor of Piqua, Ohio, was likewise recalled, and bans or moratoriums passed in Edgewater, Florida, and Bloomington, Illinois. In Asheville, North Carolina, and San Marcos, Texas, candidates who campaigned against data centres were elected mayor.
At state and federal level, Democrats spent more than $100 million on broadcast ads tying Republican candidates to Big Tech and data centres, and won in Ohio, Kansas and Iowa among others. A candidate backed by a data-centre super PAC lost, and a Kansas gubernatorial candidate who took $1.5 million from such a PAC was trailing. Blue Rose Research ranked AI 29th of 39 issues in importance but found its salience had risen more than any other issue over the past year.
Super PAC money and the AI-safety camp's results
According to TIME, the cycle's largest donor was Elon Musk at $446 million, of which about $168 million effectively went to Ken Paxton's Texas Senate bid; Paxton lost. The pro-AI super PAC Leading the Future spent more than $100 million but faced a backlash, with a cited survey finding three-quarters of likely voters less inclined to back a candidate who took AI super PAC money. Anthropic contributed more than $40 million to Public First Action, a group restricted from electoral activity, and its employees gave a further $5 million.
Candidates backed by AI-safety PACs won in Michigan, Colorado and Wisconsin, where an incumbent who had posted deepfakes of his opponent lost. In a New York primary, a candidate backed by $21.3 million in safety-aligned spending lost to a co-sponsor of the same AI safety law. The relationship between money and outcomes is far from linear; the local backlash against data centres overrode the national funding contest over AI regulation.
Limited deepfake impact and the companies' election operations
In Maine, deepfake videos of the Senator-elect circulated, yet he won by more than seven points, and TIME found no sign that deepfakes had an outsize effect in many races. CNBC reported more than $187 million spent on nearly 300 AI-generated or AI-enhanced political ads under disclosure rules that vary by state. OpenAI ran its Election Operations Center, disclosed on 28 October and led by Josh Lawson with the Associated Press as data partner, until all votes were counted; Anthropic confirmed a dedicated team on 2 November and partnered with Democracy Works to verify Claude's election information.
Sweeping federal AI regulation looks unlikely in the near term, with Congress more likely to summon executives and debate pre-emption of state laws. OpenAI plans a post-midterm policy and PR push, including a proposal to rebrand data centres as 'AI compute campuses'. That compute siting now requires local consent stands in contrast to the Russian decree, covered in the previous edition, reserving private data-centre capacity for the state: in democracies, the expansion of compute is constrained by local politics.
Sources
Reporting
- 1
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American Voters Overwhelmingly Reject AI Data Centers
Source checked 5 Nov 2026
404 Media · External site - 3
A nationwide backlash against data centers erupts at the polls
The Washington Post · External site - 4
OpenAI, Anthropic Set Up 'War Rooms' to Counter Election Misinformation
Source checked 5 Nov 2026
Time News · External site
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AI & Security Observatory（2026-11-04）「米中間選挙、データセンター規制の住民投票が13州の大半で可決 出口調査では56%がAIを重要な要因に」『AI & Security Observatory』、第1.0版、最終更新2026-11-05。https://ai-security-observatory.org/ja/brief/brief-20261105-04/
AI & Security Observatory (2026-11-04). US midterms: data-centre restrictions pass in most of 40-plus ballot measures across 13 states; 56% of voters call AI and data centres a major factor . AI & Security Observatory, version 1.0. Updated 2026-11-05. https://ai-security-observatory.org/en/brief/brief-20261105-04/
Version 1.0 · Publication date 4 Nov 2026 · Updated 5 Nov 2026
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