Democrats Take Aim at AI Data Centers After Midterm Wins

The ink is barely dry on the midterm ballots and Democrats are already aiming at the AI boom's favorite building: the data center. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, celebrated local referendums Tuesday where voters approved restrictions on data centers. His message to political leaders, posted on X: no more national data center approvals. Sanders said Americans don't want Big Tech oligarchs wrecking the environment, gutting jobs and threatening humanity's future.

He's not alone. Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., posted that pausing AI development must be a Day 1 priority for the big Democratic majority in the House. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, amplified her post with a simple 'Yes!'

The issue had real pull at the polls. According to the CNBC Voter Poll, 56% of voters called AI and data centers a crucial or major factor in their decision at the ballot box, and 65% of that group voted for a Democratic candidate for Congress.

Markets noticed fast. AI build-out stocks slipped Wednesday, then selling intensified Thursday as investors fretted that Democratic wins could actually slow data center construction. Chip names led the slide: the iShares Semiconductor ETF tumbled nearly 9%, Nvidia dropped 8% and Advanced Micro Devices sank more than 14%.

Freshman Democrats rode the fight into office. South Carolina's Annie Andrews, who flipped a Senate seat, branded her opponent Sen. Darline Graham 'data center Darline' on a campaign website. In her victory speech, Andrews said voters chose a South Carolina where decisions about communities are made by the people who live in them, not billionaires or data center companies in Washington, D.C. Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown, headed back to the Senate after beating incumbent Republican Sen. Jon Husted, put it bluntly in his own victory speech: 'I do not work for data centers.'

Governors joined in too. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who signed an executive order in August to slow data center development, said Big Tech shouldn't decide residents' futures — local communities should get the final say. And the biggest prize may be Texas, home to 27% of planned U.S. data center capacity, according to Wells Fargo. Gina Hinojosa, the Democrat who unseated Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, didn't mention data centers in her victory speech, but they were central to her run. In an October video on X, she promised a moratorium banning all data center approvals until the legislature passes laws to protect Texans, framing it as a fight over whether Texas belongs to its people or to billionaires.