404 Media: Voters Rejected Data Centers in 38 of More Than 40 Midterm Races Across 13 States

404 Media reported that proposals related to data centers were explicitly on the ballot in more than 40 races across 13 states, and that people voted against data centers in 38 of them and counting. Six cities voted to ban data centers outright and 12 put limits on the amount of megawatts such buildings could draw. In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott, who went on to accept more than $9 million from data center-related donors, lost by more than 700,000 votes.

Michael Whitesides, the deputy communications director for Local Progress, told 404 Media: “These midterms sent a clear message — people don’t want to see data centers in their backyards.” The count is 404 Media’s tally and was still rising when published. Local results are recorded in 2026-11-09–ohio-capital-journal-voters-in-18-ohio-communities-curb-or-ban-data-centers-piqua-recalls-commissioners and 2026-11-05–maine-morning-star-peru-wiscasset-wells-voters-approved-data-center-moratoriums-north-berwick-ban-failed; the pre-election pattern is in 2026-10-26–states-newsroom-voter-backlash-data-centers-midterms-allegheny-county-25-megawatt-county-land-ban-springdale-47-acre-fight.