Voters across 10 states largely rejected data center expansion, approving restrictions and bans in all but one contest

The 2026 midterm election blue wave, which shifted the balance of power in Congress and across state races toward Democrats, can be seen as a repudiation of AI and the controversial data centers that provide its computing power.

Alhambra voters will be tasked with whether to ban data centers in their San Gabriel Valley community. Here's where else bans have been enacted.

Data centers are a hot-button election issue for midterms across the US and have become a point of contention for Prop 45 as well. The proposition lists nine types of “essential” projects that would be eligible for streamlined review, including housing, clean energy, and “broadband Internet access.”

Tech giants like Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom had major losses after anti-data center measures and candidates triumphed.

According to FOIAengine, which tracks Freedom of Information Act requests in as close to real time as availability allows, seven different journalists submitted 39 separate requests last month to the Bureau of Land Management seeking records about data center proposals in seven Western states.

Voters in dozens of US counties and cities will soon have the chance to help enact policies that would slow down the development of data centers.

The Whittier City Council approved a 45-day moratorium on permits for data centers, car washes, massage parlors, and detention centers to give local leaders time to draft permanent regulations.