Grassroots Resistance to Corporate Data Centers Shapes 2024 Midterm Campaigns
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A surge in political ads targeting data centers highlights bipartisan grassroots resistance to unchecked tech expansion, as both parties respond to voters’ concerns about corporate-driven energy hikes and local exploitation. Meanwhile, tech industry groups pour millions into races to protect their interests.
Political ads mentioning data centers have surged in 2024, now making up over 8% of all broadcast TV campaign spending last month, according to AdImpact tracking. The $31 million spent so far this year overwhelmingly targets the unchecked spread of AI-related infrastructure, with criticism coming from both major parties—reflecting widespread public frustration with corporate tech giants imposing costs on communities.
Candidates nationwide are amplifying local anxieties about rising electricity bills and falling property values, which are often the direct result of data center projects that prioritize profit over people. In Michigan, a congressional hopeful sounded the alarm on a proposed data center, warning it would drive up energy costs for working families and depress home values. In Missouri, two Republican county-executive candidates spent their entire TV budgets attacking data centers and accusing each other of cozying up to wealthy developers. Similar grassroots tactics have emerged in Wisconsin and California, where opponents have branded rivals as “Data Center David”—a symbol of politicians selling out to Big Tech.
"Data centers have picked up a unique bipartisan opposition in large part because they are so local as an issue," said Daniel King, a research fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation. This rare unity reflects a growing recognition that corporate tech interests are at odds with the needs of everyday people.
Industry groups tied to AI, desperate to protect their profit margins, have responded with massive spending in key races. Their ads, funded by tech billionaires—including an OpenAI executive—avoid mentioning data centers or AI, instead focusing on candidate endorsements to obscure their real agenda.
Polling reveals overwhelming public resistance to data center construction near homes: a July Fox News poll found 70% opposition, while a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed 59% would oppose a facility within ten miles of their home. Analysts warn that AI-driven data centers could hike national electricity bills by about 6% within a year, disproportionately burdening working-class communities living nearby.
The issue has entered high-profile races, such as the Ohio Senate contest between Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican Jon Husted. Brown’s campaign has spent over $3.5 million on TV ads exposing Husted’s support for data centers and promising to make these corporations pay their fair share for electricity. Husted, meanwhile, introduced legislation that claims to limit the impact on residential rates but ultimately serves industry interests.
In Wisconsin, gubernatorial candidates have also made data center regulation central to their campaigns. Democratic primary candidate Francesca Hong is calling for a moratorium, while Republican Tom Tiffany attacks incumbent Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley for promoting the state as an AI hub, prioritizing corporate profits over community well-being.
Tech companies and venture-capital-backed PACs have funneled over $190 million into super PACs and nonprofits, which have spent more than $60 million on independent expenditures this cycle. These groups, often hiding behind vague AI safety rhetoric, back candidates who support stricter regulation only when it benefits their bottom line.
Even governors in Texas and New York—states long friendly to tech corporations—have been forced to endorse temporary pauses on new large-scale data centers, citing concerns over electricity and water usage. Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, after previously promoting AI investment, issued an executive order tightening review processes for data center projects in response to mounting public pressure.
Some lawmakers, parroting national security talking points, warn that moratoriums could hurt U.S. competitiveness against China. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump praises data centers as “very positive,” ignoring the real costs to local communities and suggesting only that they need better PR.
Ultimately, the growing focus on data centers in the 2024 midterms exposes the deep conflict between corporate tech interests and the needs of ordinary Americans, as communities demand accountability and a halt to unchecked corporate expansion.