Data centers have become a central issue in the 2026 midterm elections, with candidates in both parties trying to use the industry against their opponents. Opposition to data centers has grown rapidly since the beginning of the year and is now bipartisan, with many Republicans breaking from President Donald Trump on the issue. At least five candidates have been labeled with a derogatory "Data Center [Name]" moniker by their opponents to highlight their ties to the industry, including two candidates named Derek or Derrick.
The Ohio Senate race is drawing the most attention. The National Republican Senatorial Committee warned in August that Democrat Sherrod Brown's attacks on Senator Jon Husted over data centers could decide the race, calling it a sleeper issue for the entire election cycle. Brown has described Husted as the face of data centers in Ohio, and his ads blame Husted for bringing data centers to the state and raising energy bills. Senate Democrats have backed Brown by blocking a Husted-sponsored bill modeled on the White House's ratepayer protection pledge, with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer calling it toothless.
Data centers have also become flash points in dozens of House races across the country, with all 435 seats up for grabs. Among races the Cook Political Report labels toss-ups, numerous candidates are running data-center-related ads. The issue has also surfaced in toss-up Senate races in Michigan, Iowa and Texas.
In the 36 gubernatorial races, at least 20 candidates have promised to enact some form of data center moratorium if elected, according to research from Multistate. The only true hyperscale moratorium currently in place in the US was signed in July by New York governor Kathy Hochul, who holds a comfortable lead over challenger Bruce Blakeman, a supporter of data center development. In Wisconsin's tight gubernatorial race, Republican Tom Tiffany has attacked Democrat David Crowley in ads calling him "Data Center David," even though both candidates support restrictions on the industry.
In states with heavy data center activity, some candidates in tight races have shifted positions. Texas governor Greg Abbott has moved from welcoming data center development to imposing a de facto moratorium on permits in less than a year, while his opponent, Gina Hinojosa, says he has not gone far enough to regulate the industry. Voters in eight states are considering more than 30 local ballot measures on data centers, and Ohio accounts for more than half of them, ranging from local moratoriums to referendums on rezoning.
Separately, WIRED science editor Brian Kahn and senior writer Molly Taft obtained exclusive access to Atoco, a startup that harvests water from the air using excess heat from data centers. The company uses materials called metal organic frameworks, or MOFs, which earned one of its founders the Nobel Prize last year. Earlier prototypes needed grid power to generate enough heat to extract water from the MOFs, but the new version requires only waste heat from industrial facilities such as data centers and can produce water even in arid areas.
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