Voters Reject Data Centers in 40 of 41 Local Ballot Measures Across 10 States in Midterms

Voters in 10 states rejected restrictions-related data center proposals' opponents' opposite in nearly every case on Tuesday's midterm ballot: of 41 local measures on data centers, voters sided against the industry in all but one, according to Ballotpedia and CNBC. The states were California, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio and Wisconsin. The exception was Harwood, North Dakota, where voters rejected a charter amendment that would have required extra review of industrial developments, including data centers. Ohio held 21 of the measures. A tracker cited by one outlet counted at least six localities voting specifically to ban construction. In Ohio, Democrat Sherrod Brown unseated Republican Sen. Jon Husted after calling him the face of data centers. OpenAI announced in August that it had secured 8 gigawatts of capacity at the PORTS-Pike campus in Ohio, with first-phase construction due this year and capacity arriving from 2028. Democrats also flipped the House and Senate and unseated Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

The New Republic leads with the tally, saying the measures show how much of the country loathes data center projects. It cites Data Centers on the Ballot, notes the Harwood exception, and explains Ohio's appeal (cheap land, power) and AI firms' spending there. The Daily Caller headlines a "brutal" night for data centers, citing The Washington Post and Ballotpedia. Its main voice is Stephanie Justice of Americans for Responsible Innovation, who says voters in red and blue areas want a say. It adds a Pew finding that about half of Americans expect higher home costs. Both agree on the broad rejection; they differ in focus, with the left on industry money and the right on voter accountability. Reason argues the vote proves it was a data center election, citing exit polls, and CNBC adds the project and business details.