Of 41 local ballot measures that would restrict data center construction across 10 states, voters sided against the industry in all but one, according to Ballotpedia and CNBC.
By the numbers: Ohio alone carried 21 of the 41 measures. The lone industry win came in Harwood, North Dakota, where voters rejected an added review of industrial projects.
The backstory: OpenAI secured 8 gigawatts of capacity in August at the PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Ohio, the largest planned AI data center campus in the world, developed by SoftBank and SB Energy with the Energy Department and backstopped by Nvidia at a possible cost above $500 billion.
- Ohio's governorship flipped to Democrat Amy Acton, who supports a conditional moratorium until data centers cover 100% of utility costs and build exclusively with union labor.
- In Texas, Gina Hinojosa unseated Governor Greg Abbott after blaming him for the rapid buildout across the state.
Zoom in: In a CNBC Voter Poll, 56% of voters said data centers were a crucial or major factor in their decision, with Democrats ranking the issue higher than Republicans.
Yes, but: Silicon Valley spent heavily on the other side. Crypto, AI and online gambling interests poured in more than $377 million, and Elon Musk alone spent at least $474 million, nearly half of it in Texas.
- "Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now," Musk wrote in a post on X.
What's next: Representative Greg Casar, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said AI company CEOs should be called to testify under oath, and Representative Robert Garcia, the presumptive House Oversight chair, summed up the night in two words: "Lawyer up."
Why it matters: Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta are each spending hundreds of billions of dollars a year on AI infrastructure, and the local permits that spending depends on now run through voters who just showed how they feel.
