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Data center construction is becoming a flashpoint for gubernatorial races across the country in the 2026 midterm elections, with an increasing number of candidates from both parties voicing support for temporary moratoriums.
Florida gubernatorial candidate David Jolly, a Democrat, became the latest candidate to call for a data center halt, writing in a post to X that he would support a pause on construction until the state “has a responsible plan to protect our water, power grid, and communities.”
His comments come amid a national debate over the growth of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered data centers, which require large amounts of electricity and water to cool servers. Critics have raised numerous concerns about the centers—including their impact on the environment, the amount of water they use, their potential to drive up electricity bills and the noise they generate in communities. Other candidates, however, have said embracing AI is critical for states’ economic growth, and that those opposing the rapidly developing technology could be left behind.
Data Centers Become Defining Issue of 2026 Midterms
Governor candidates in at least a dozen states are coming out in support of AI data center moratoriums. If elected in November, these candidates could have the ability to sign construction stoppages into law, with support from state legislatures.
The data center debate has shaped the midterms, dividing candidates in both the primary and general elections. It’s not an issue that has fallen cleanly on political lines, with a handful of candidates from both major parties joining calls to enact a temporary halt on data center construction.
Data centers are poised to be among the defining issues of the midterms, Mitch Jones, deputy director of Food & Water Action, told Newsweek on Tuesday.
“We are definitely happy to see candidates for governor in a variety of states, and in a variety of parties, support calls on data center moratoriums in their state,” he said. “A year ago, the opposite would have been true. Candidates would be rushing to embrace the industry, but we’re seeing a growing grassroots movement across this country, and we’re seeing the politics beginning to respond to the voters.”
Jones said that data centers tie in directly to issues of cost of living, and that candidates are going to have to stand with their constituents on the matter to be successful in November.
The issue is cutting across party lines, drawing support from both more progressive “Berniecrats” as well as MAGA Republicans, he said, adding that Jolly’s support is significant as he is viewed as more of a centrist.
“The opposition, which is growing on the ground, isn’t based on party or ideology or loyalty to President Trump or any of the issues that have animated our politics in recent years,” Jones said. Instead, the movement Is “visceral, organic opposition to data centers coming into communities” and their impact on utility prices, water consumption and land usage.
Local factors are likely to determine how salient the issue becomes, Grant Davis Reeher, professor of political science at Syracuse University, told Newsweek on Tuesday.
“As to how it will play out in each race, much will depend on the state of economic development in that area or state. If an area or state is struggling to keep population, businesses, and the tax base, it will be controversial,” he said. “If an area or state is in better economic shape, the connection to the environment and local quality of life will likely be more salient.”
Here is a look at which candidates are embracing calls for data center moratoriums.
Alabama
Doug Jones, Democratic candidate and former senator, told Birmingham-based news station WIAT that he would support a data center moratorium if elected governor.
“I do not want to see Alabama become the dumping ground for data centers simply because we have lax zoning laws, lax rules and regulations, and we just open the doors to anybody who says they might make a buck for us,” he told the news station.
Senator Tommy Tuberville, the Republican nominee in the gubernatorial race, is more supportive of data centers. Alabama is one of the most conservative states in the nation, having backed President Donald Trump by 30 points in 2024, so Tuberville is expected to have an advantage heading into the November midterms.
Florida
In addition to Jolly, Republican candidate James Fishback has called for a ban on data center construction in Florida. The Republican’s platform says that data centers are “turning Florida farmland into a dystopian wasteland, and that he would opt for an outright ban rather than reform or regulation.
Georgia
Keisha Lance Bottoms, Democratic candidate and former mayor of Atlanta, has said Georgia must “slow down and reassess the rapid expansion of data centers so families are not left with higher utility bills, strained water resources, and damage to surrounding communities,” according to her campaign website.
In April, she told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer she supports a temporary moratorium, saying it is “an opportunity for us as a state to press pause, I believe, and just looking at where we are, what is the impact as they are coming online, and is there anything that we need to tweak in this state before we continue to move forward?”
Businessman Rick Jackson, Republican candidate, has been more supportive of data centers and has said he invested in one in Texas. He told 11Alive that he would oppose a moratorium but that every community should have control of construction.
“What I want to do is give some of our counties an option. I’m going to negotiate a deal that where all the benefit goes to the county to eliminate or reduce their property taxes,” he told the station.
Georgia is one of the most competitive swing states in the country, and the race is viewed as a toss-up by political forecasters.
Iowa
In Iowa, Republican candidate Zach Lahn has taken a stance against data centers, writing in a May Facebook post that he is the “only candidate” supporting a moratorium.
“Iowa farmland should not become a playground for billion-dollar corporations while small towns struggle, family farms disappear, and young people are forced to leave the state to find opportunity,” he wrote. “This isn’t anti-technology. It’s pro-Iowa.”
Democratic candidate Rob Sand, the current state auditor, said in a July Facebook post that data centers in the state “need to be responsible stewards of our land & pay their fair share,” but he has not gone as far as to call for a moratorium.
Iowa’s gubernatorial race is viewed as a toss-up. Although the state backed Trump by double-digits in 2024, Sand is viewed as a strong recruit, and polls show it is competitive.
Kansas
Democratic candidate Cindy Holscher told the Johnson County Post that she would support a moratorium.
“I am not opposed to data centers. I am opposed to asking Kansas families, farmers, and small businesses to subsidize some of the wealthiest corporations on Earth without any clear guarantee that Kansans will benefit,” she told the newspaper.
Republican candidate Charlotte O’Hara told the news outlet that the state should have a moratorium until tax incentives are repealed.
The primaries have not yet been held in Kansas. Republicans are favored to flip the seat vacated by retiring Governor Laura Kelly, a Democrat, but the race is still viewed as potentially competitive.
Maine
Both the Democratic candidate—former Maine House Speaker Hannah Pingree—and Republican candidate businessman Bobby Charles have supported data center moratoriums in Maine.
Earlier this year, when Governor Janet Mills, a Democrat, vetoed legislation to enact a data center moratorium, Pingree broke from the governor and said she would have signed it.
“Right now, with AI data centers, we’re seeing something new. In states like Virginia and Texas, AI data centers have come in—they have jacked up electricity rates, they have impacted the environment and surrounding communities, so as governor, I will enact a moratorium until we have guardrails in place that will protect our water, that will protect our environment and will protect our energy ratepayers,” she said in a July 5 video posted to Facebook.
Charles told The Portland Press Herald he supports a moratorium.
“I would sign a temporary moratorium on data centers until more is understood about their potential impact on both electricity draw … AND their impact on water use and impact on rivers in Maine,” he told the newspaper.
The Cook Political Report classifies Maine’s gubernatorial race as Safe Democratic.
New Hampshire
Both candidates in New Hampshire have been critical of data centers.
Former New Hampshire Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington, a Democrat whose only primary opponent dropped out of the race, has backed data center moratoriums.
“We need to make sure that we put in protections all around our state so that no neighboring community of yours could put in a data center that impacts the quality of your water, that impacts the electric rates that you are paying in your community, that impacts the noise level here in your community,” she said in remarks to the Nottingham Planning Board earlier in the summer.
Governor Kelly Ayotte, a Republican, has raised concerns about their impact on energy costs.
“We have a real issue. If we have the siting of data centers here, energy costs could skyrocket,” she told local news station WMUR, adding she wants people locally to have a voice on the matter.
Although Trump lost New Hampshire, Ayotte is viewed as the favorite for reelection, according to the Cook Political Report.
New York
New York is the only state that has enacted a data center moratorium, with Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, signing into law a one-year pause on the building of new large-scale data facilities earlier this month.
“As data center development threatens to hike up utility bills, deplete our natural resources, and create uncertainty for New Yorkers, it’s my responsibility to take action and lead,” Hochul said, according to Reuters.
Reeher said that the shift from Hochul “probably has something to do with the sense among Democrats that the Party’s Zeitgeist is now more progressive.”
Oklahoma
Oklahoma gubernatorial candidate Cyndi Munson, a Democrat, called for a data center moratorium in a Facebook post in June. She said she would issue an executive order enacting one on her first day in office if elected.
“Our water and power belong to Oklahomans — not out of state tech companies looking to put costs on our backs. AI data centers are pushing up utility rates and stretching our grid thin,” she wrote.
Oklahoma is a reliably Republican state, so whoever wins the GOP runoff will be favored.
Pennsylvania
Republican candidate Stacy Garrity told Spotlight PA, a nonprofit news organization, she would support a pause in data center development to allow townships to update zoning requirements and plan emergency services, but that she would not support a moratorium that would last for three or more years.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, has not indicated support for a moratorium.
The Cook Political Report gives Shapiro an advantage for reelection in the state that Trump narrowly won in 2024.
South Carolina
Jermaine Johnson, state representative and Democratic nominee in the governor race, in April introduced a joint resolution to halt all data center construction in the Palmetto State.
“Before we move forward, we need a responsible, transparent plan that protects our communities, infrastructure, and energy resources,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
According to The State, Republican nominee Alan Wilson, the current attorney general, said data centers “are the infrastructure for the new innovative technologies of the future,” describing it as a “national security issue.”
Wilson is favored by Cook to win in November, as South Carolina is a Republican-leaning state.
Wisconsin
State Representative Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist, has made her support for a data center moratorium central to her campaign as she faces a competitive Democratic primary in Wisconsin.
“If communities decide to allow data center construction, those data centers won’t be built with public money — and we’ll make sure they pay their fair share in taxes. We’ll invest that money in building clean, publicly owned energy, driving down costs and increasing reliability for communities across our state,” her issues page reads.
Other Democratic and Republican candidates have not backed a moratorium.
Where Are Data Centers Already Being Banned?
New York is the only state that has a moratorium, but many other counties and municipalities have implemented their own policies pausing the construction of data centers. Legislators in at least 15 states nationwide are mulling bans or temporary moratoriums on new facilities, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).
More than 3,000 data centers are already operating throughout the United States, with more than 1,500 new facilities in various stages of construction, according to the Pew Research Center.
Americans Opposed to Data Centers, Polling Shows
Recent polling suggests most Americans do not want to see data centers constructed in their communities. A Gallup poll, taken from March 2 to March 18, found that only 27 percent of Americans would favor the local construction of data centers, compared to 71 percent who would oppose it.
A YouGov poll found that 50 percent of Americans would oppose the construction of a data center in their area, compared to 20 percent who favor and 30 percent who weren’t sure.
Forty-six percent viewed their construction as necessary to be more competitive with other countries in the tech industry, while 54 percent said they don’t view it as necessary.
Fifty-nine percent of Democrats said they would oppose the construction of data centers in their communities, compared to 54 percent of independents and 39 percent of Republicans, according to the poll. It surveyed 2,003 adults from June 2 to June 4 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Edward T. Cummins.
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