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The rapid buildout of data centers powering America’s artificial intelligence (AI) boom is heading to the ballot box this November, as voters across the country weigh measures that could shape where and how the massive facilities are built.
Voters will decide 34 data center-related ballot measures across seven states — California, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Nevada, Ohio and Wisconsin.
The measures come as states elsewhere have considered or imposed limits on development, underscoring how quickly data centers have become a political flashpoint.
A Fox News national poll conducted last month found voters struggling to reconcile AI’s potential benefits with the economic and environmental costs of the data centers that power the technology.
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More than seven in 10 voters (71%) opposed building AI data centers in their area, including 46% who strongly opposed them. More than half (52%) supported building them in remote locations, while 44% opposed.
Overall, 60% of voters had a negative view of AI, compared with 37% who viewed it positively. That 23-point gap has more than doubled since a July Fox News poll.
The Fox News poll also found a partisan divide over AI and data centers. Voters with favorable views of AI leaned Republican, while those with unfavorable views leaned Democratic.
The divide was even sharper over data centers, with Republicans performing better among voters who supported them and Democrats among those who opposed them.
That partisan split comes as AI policy emerges as a growing fault line in Washington and on the campaign trail.
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President Donald Trump has opposed wide-ranging federal regulation of the AI industry and warned that the U.S. cannot allow China to win the technology race.
But as the midterms approach, the debate over AI and the data centers powering it is playing out in races across the country.
In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who previously courted major tech investments, recently ordered a pause on data center permitting and grid connections pending an audit. Democratic challenger Gina Hinojosa has supported temporary moratoriums.
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently ordered a pause on new data center permits pending a statewide audit of their impact on the power grid and water supplies. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, in the state’s Senate race, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democratic state Rep. James Talarico have battled over tax breaks for the industry.
In Ohio, the debate is playing out both on the campaign trail and at the ballot box. The state has 20 data center-related measures across 17 jurisdictions this November — more than any other state and more than half of the 34 measures going before voters nationwide.
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Democratic Senate challenger Sherrod Brown has attacked Republican Sen. Jon Husted over data center development. Trump, campaigning for Husted, defended the industry’s economic potential.
“Look, there’s so much money to be made for Ohio, you can’t just turn them off,” Trump said.