As data center projects expand, voters’ concerns about energy, water, local control and public costs are becoming campaign issues across the country. In 2026, candidates in several high-profile races are trying to show they would constrain development, even as technology groups spend heavily to influence political debates over artificial intelligence and its infrastructure.
Data centers enter the campaign debate
Data centers are large facilities that store and process information. Their construction can also require new infrastructure and add costs, prompting local opposition in communities around the country. That resistance has made data center development a significant issue in congressional and gubernatorial campaigns.
Political spending around AI policy is also growing. Leading the Future, a super PAC backed by venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and OpenAI President Greg Brockman, has spent $45 million in a year. Public First Action, an Anthropic-backed group that says it supports AI safeguards, says it has raised $80 million.
Other groups are using campaign ads to make the case for stricter AI policies. Tomorrow Together, a recently created super PAC, launched $4 million in ads for battleground House races, focusing on data center development and AI safety. The spending signals that arguments about facilities and AI policy are reaching voters through multiple political channels.
Texas candidates offer different answers
Texas has the second-highest number of planned data center projects in the country, after Virginia. The issue has become a point of contrast in both the Senate and governor’s races, though candidates from both parties are calling for developers to take on more costs.
Democratic Senate candidate and State Rep. James Talarico has emphasized environmental effects and sharing corporate profits with the public. His “Hold Data Centers Accountable Plan,” unveiled in July, would end state sales tax incentives, give communities more say in development, require a closed-loop water system in new data centers, and establish federal standards for the energy grid and environment. He has also proposed an “AI Dividend” funded by a tax on “AI-attributable profits.”
Republican Senate candidate and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has focused on keeping Chinese technology out of US data centers. His “Texas First Data Center Plan,” unveiled in August, would support state policies that repeal sales tax exemptions and require data centers to pay for the electricity they use and the capacity they add. It would also prevent AI data centers from building in rural parts of the state.
Paxton has outlined federal proposals as well, including co-sponsoring an existing bill to make it easier for data centers to connect to off-grid power systems. He also says he would introduce legislation barring Chinese technology from powering US data centers or infrastructure, and make companies criminally liable if a facility “empowers AI chatbots that undermine children’s safety.”
The governor’s race has brought scrutiny to Republican incumbent Greg Abbott. His office celebrated a $40 billion Google investment last year that included three new data center campuses. In August 2026, he announced an audit that could slow new facilities connecting to the state energy grid. Democratic challenger and State Rep. Gina Hinojosa has called for a statewide moratorium and accused Abbott of changing his position. The race rating shifted from likely Republican to leans Republican, while the Senate contest is described as a toss-up.
Florida debate centers on a ban or safeguards
Florida’s gubernatorial candidates differ over whether large-scale data centers should be stopped altogether or allowed under stricter conditions. Democratic candidate and former congressman David Jolly has pledged a one-year ban on hyperscale data centers on his first day in office and has not ruled out extending it permanently. His campaign has also featured an ad that lists data centers alongside crime as something he does not want in the state.
Republican Congressman Byron Donalds previously supported data center development and said Florida was “wide open” to building without harming the state’s beauty. More recently, he has said he would protect residents from risks such as higher energy costs, while continuing to oppose an outright ban.
In July, Donalds introduced the Protecting Ratepayers Act, which would require developers to fund the energy and water needed for their operations. He has also backed a state law with similar requirements and environmental protections. In an ad, he says, “In my Florida, if you don’t protect our pocketbooks and our people, you won’t build data centers, period.” Energy experts have warned that his pledge to rely on nuclear and natural gas could raise consumer costs.
A shared concern, different remedies
The campaigns show how opposition to data centers can cut across party lines while leaving room for sharply different policy choices. Some candidates call for moratoriums; others favor local authority, environmental requirements, or rules requiring companies to cover costs tied to energy and water.
That distinction matters to voters weighing whether new facilities should be paused or permitted with safeguards. Candidates are also connecting the issue to broader questions about AI, public benefits and technology risks. The source article describes the races as uncertain, but makes clear that data center development has become a topic campaigns cannot easily ignore.