HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — After a campaign season filled with outrage against data centers, the midterm elections ushered in a wave of Democrats pledging to clamp down on the energy-hungry behemoths.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — After a campaign season filled with outrage against data centers, the midterm elections ushered in a wave of Democrats pledging to clamp down on the energy-hungry behemoths.

Mike Bourcier and his wife Jenifer hold No Data Center signs Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, in Mason, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — After a campaign season filled with outrage against data centers, the midterm elections ushered in a wave of Democrats pledging to clamp down on the energy-hungry behemoths.

A tougher regulatory environment for artificial intelligence giants and data center developers is expected to follow, even if President Donald Trump — perhaps the industry’s biggest champion — stalls any federal crackdown.

Data center regulation itself was not on most midterm ballots, and it wasn’t among the top issues for most voters. But hardline stances against the server warehouses were woven into the platforms of many candidates, including the Democrats who upended longtime Republican control of the governorships in Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Nevada and Iowa, many of which are data center hotspots.

Skepticism of data centers, and their impact on electricity prices, often blended with the fight for affordability — a key campaign talking point for Democrats.

In Texas, Clayton Tucker, the first Democrat elected state agriculture commissioner since 1986, said his pledge to fight data center development was critical to his victory. Everywhere he went, he said, ranchers worried that data centers posed an existential threat to their dwindling water supplies.

“You know, there’s an old saying around here that ‘whiskey’s for drinking and water’s for fighting,’” Tucker told The Associated Press. “And that’s exactly what happened.”

Data centers were a persistent bogeyman in attack ads