CEBE Survey Indicated Data Centers Would be Election Issue

The midterm 2026 election that ushered in a Democratic-controlled Congress sent a strong message from voters on a number of topics and .one of them – AI and data centers – had already emerged as a potentially important political issue in a recent survey conducted by the Center for Energy and the Built Environment.

The survey of 1,289 U.S. adults, conducted in August, found that AI and data center views could become a ballot-box issue in November. While the survey did not ask if respondents planned to vote, 65.5% believed a candidate's support for data-center development would make them either more or less likely to support that candidate for public office. Slightly more than 39% said they would be less likely to support the candidate, while 26% said they would be more likely to support. About 30% said the candidate's position would make them neither more nor less likely to support that candidate.

The issue proved to be an important one, with exit polling conducted by NBC finding that 56% of voters said AI and data centers were a major or crucial factor in their congressional voting decisions. In addition, voters decided 41 local ballot measures related to data-center development across 10 states, with 40 outcomes favoring limitations on development.

Data center backlash was seen nationally, and it was also an issue in Pennsylvania, where data center development has been rapidly increasing, leading a number of communities to raise concerns and proactively develop local regulations. Candidates for state and federal office raised the issue of data centers in their platforms, calling for increased local control.

The CEBE survey found that 46.5% of respondents opposed construction of a data center in their community. Separately, Associated Press polling found substantial opposition among voters across political affiliations, although differences in survey methods and populations prevent direct comparison.

Growing concerns about data-center development, together with support for additional government oversight, suggest that the issue may feature prominently in future state and federal legislative debates and how they can best serve the U.S. economy.