🤖 The Data Center Divide: How AI’s Physical Footprint Is Rewriting Local and National Politics

A new 'TELL IT LIKE IT IS' poll shows Americans aren’t hostile to AI data centers—until one lands in their backyard, exposing a partisan split that could reshape midterm elections.

The artificial intelligence boom runs not just on algorithms and ambition, but on concrete, steel, electricity, and water. And as the physical infrastructure behind AI spreads across the United States, it is triggering a political fault line that is proving far trickier than Silicon Valley anticipated.

Across the country, communities from Madison, Wisconsin, to Chandler, Arizona, are rejecting proposals for new data centers—vast, energy-hungry facilities that power cloud computing and AI systems. Local officials cite rising electricity rates, strained power grids, depleted water tables, and environmental concerns. Yet nationally, public opinion remains fluid.

A new 'TELL IT LIKE IT IS' Poll, conducted by London-based independent firm Public First, suggests data centers are not broadly unpopular. Thirty-seven percent of respondents said they would support a data center in their area, compared with 28 percent who oppose one. Another 36 percent remain undecided—an unusually large bloc that leaves the industry with room to maneuver.

That gap between national ambivalence and local resistance is now shaping the politics of AI infrastructure.

The Backyard Effect

Voters tend to support data centers in the abstract, associating them with jobs, investment, and economic growth. The poll found that 37 percent of respondents identified job creation as the primary benefit. But proximity changes the equation. Nearly one-third of respondents cited higher electricity costs as their top concern—an issue that becomes tangible only when a project is nearby.

“I don’t want a data center in my neighborhood,” said Brad Carson, a former Democratic congressman from Oklahoma and head of Public First. “People who oppose them are likely to vote on that issue. The people who support them often live nowhere near one.”

That dynamic is already playing out politically. Democratic governors Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey both campaigned on forcing data center operators to help pay for grid upgrades and protect consumers from rising utility rates—positions that helped them win competitive races last fall.

A Partisan Shift Emerges

Perhaps most striking is the poll’s indication that data centers—and the tech companies behind them—are becoming politically coded.

Forty-six percent of Republicans surveyed support having a data center in their area, compared with a lower share of Democrats. Republican opposition stands at 25 percent, seven points lower than among Democratic respondents. More than half of Republican voters now say their party is more closely aligned with large technology companies—an inversion of the long-running cultural battle between conservatives and Silicon Valley.

Guests including Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk
arrive before the 60th presidential inauguration in the rotunda of the
Capitol in Washington on Jan. 20, 2025. | Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

That shift coincides with the increasingly visible embrace of former President Donald Trump by leaders of major tech firms, including Meta, Amazon, and Oracle. Their presence at Trump’s second inauguration signaled a recalibration that could reverberate through local zoning fights and utility hearings nationwide.

The risks of perceived partisanship are not theoretical. Tesla experienced backlash last year when its CEO Elon Musk aligned closely with Trump, followed by market turbulence after the two men later fell out. Data center developers, facing hundreds of planned projects across the country, have little incentive to inherit similar political baggage.

Industry Pushback—and a Warning

Tech companies insist they are not burdening local communities. Google says it covers its own energy costs and accelerates clean power adoption. Meta points to investments in energy infrastructure and water restoration, arguing that its facilities do not pass electricity costs on to consumers. Microsoft has endorsed proposals requiring AI companies to pay higher rates than residential customers and recently launched a public-facing data center education campaign.

Josh Levi, president of the Data Center Coalition, said the poll confirms that the industry delivers “significant, tangible benefits,” but also underscores the need for better public communication.

Yet the political warning signs are growing. While only 17 percent of respondents expect data centers to factor into the upcoming midterms, 57 percent believe they will eventually become a campaign issue in their area. Democratic voters, in particular, were less likely to support a candidate who backs a data center project than one who opposes it—a vulnerability that could reshape primary contests.

Republicans are not immune. Carson pointed to recent local races in Georgia and Virginia where opposition to data centers appeared to pull conservative voters toward Democratic candidates.

The Next Front in the AI Debate

The fight over AI regulation has largely focused on algorithms, national security, and economic competition with China. But the next phase may be far more local—and far more political.

As AI data centers spread beyond traditional hubs in Virginia and Texas, every new project forces a reckoning between national economic ambition and neighborhood-level costs. The industry still has time to shape public opinion. But once a data center shows up down the road, the politics change fast.

In an election year already defined by polarization, AI’s physical footprint may become an unexpected swing issue—one megawatt, zoning vote, and water permit at a time.

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-- By Michael R. Thomas

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