41 Data Center Ballot Measures in U.S.

41 ballot measures on data centers are up this midterm, turning the tech boom into a local political battlefield. Ohio leads with 21 proposals, 11 of them threatening to halt or ban new data center construction. In Piqua, Meta plans a $1 billion, 1.4-gigawatt center that could bring 1,000 jobs, sparking a mayor recall vote. Other projects on the ballot include a $2 billion AWS site in Sunbury and a $10 billion one in Adams County. In Q2 2026, 45 projects worth $68 billion were halted by local opposition, a trend that could choke AI's compute hunger. Anthropic now pledges $895 billion of infrastructure, after a $5 billion Q3 spend pushed its margin to 15% from 19%. If Democrats win, they may push federal AI regulation, but a Trump veto would force a bipartisan, two-thirds-majority bill. The next election could decide whether data centers become the new battleground for AI's future.