People across America rejected data centers during last night’s midterm election.
asserted
People → reject → election
Proposals related to data centers were explicitly on the ballot in more than 40 races across 13 states.
asserted
Proposals → relate → states
People voted against data centers in 38 of them and counting.
asserted
People → vote → them
Six cities voted to ban data centers outright and 12 put limits on the amount of megawatts such buildings could draw.
uncertain
buildings → vote → megawatts
In addition to specific ballot measures, candidates who supported data centers lost across the country.
asserted
who → support → country
One of the most striking repudiations of pro data center politicians was in Texas, where Gregg Abbott lost a bid for a fourth term as governor.
asserted
Abbott → lose → governor
Abbott had made Texas a data center friendly place.
asserted
Texas → make → ?
The state has more than 300 working data centers and there are plans to double that number.
asserted
state → have → number
“Texas is the epicenter of AI development,” Abbott said in 2025 at a press conference with Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
asserted
Abbott → say → Pichai
“We must ensure that America remains at the forefront of the AI revolution, and Texas is the place where that can happen.”
asserted
that → ensure → revolution
He went on to accept more than $9 million from data center-related donors.
asserted
He → go → donors
When public sentiment turned against data centers, Abbott attempted to ride shifting political winds by issuing a “pause” on new projects.
asserted
Abbott → turn → projects
Texas regulators continued to approve data center projects after Abbott’s announcement and only shut down the state’s permitting web portal when 404 Media reported it.
asserted
Media → continue → it
Gina Hinojosa, Texas’s Democratic governor-elect, made Abbott’s stance on data centers a central part of her campaign.
asserted
stance → make → campaign
Abbott’s words about making Texas a data center-friendly AI state played on TVs and the internet over and over again.
asserted
Texas → make → TVs
He lost by more than 700,000 votes.
asserted
He → lose → votes
Anti-data center candidates overwhelmingly won statewide races across the country.
asserted
candidates → win → country
In Burgin, Kansas, mayoral candidate George Hensley lost his bid after voting to approve a hyperscale project—to a write-in candidate.
asserted
Hensley → lose → candidate
Hensley was the only name on the ballot, and he lost to Joe MonroeTK, who ran an anti-data center write-in campaign.
asserted
who → lose → campaign
Emporia, Kansas — where police arrested a school teacher for clapping during a data center related city meeting — passed a ban on high impact data centers.
asserted
police → arrest → centers
In Yukon, Oklahoma the mayor lost a recall election after he supported a hyperscale data center project.
asserted
he → lose → project
"These midterms sent a clear message — people don't want to see data centers in their backyards,” Michael Whitesides, the deputy communications director for Local Progress, told 404 Media.
asserted
Whitesides → send → Media
“Across the country, people do not see the promised benefit of these data centers, and the AI they power, playing out in their daily lives.
asserted
they → see → lives
They're seeing basic goods and services get more expensive while these billionaire backed monstrosities take up space in their community, poison their air, and drive up their utility bills.”
asserted
monstrosities → see → bills
Local Progress is a network of local elected officials.
asserted
Progress → elect → officials
Over the past year, its members have become increasingly focused on data centers as a top political issue.
asserted
members → become → issue
“Last night, we saw local, state, and federal officials who backed data center deals lose their seats,” Whitesides said.
asserted
Whitesides → see → seats
He noted that Kim Rooney in Asheville, North Carolina and Amanda Rodrigues in San Marcos, Texas (both members of Local Progress) were elected mayors in their cities after running anti-data center campaigns.
asserted
both → note → campaigns
“Big Tech will continue its typical playbook of trying to buy and bully local officials into complying with their demands for more data center development, but our hope is that last night's results are a clear signal to local leaders that they can resist and their community will back them up,” Whitesides said.
asserted
Whitesides → continue → them
American voters in the communities where they’re being built hate data centers.
asserted
they → build → centers
They run up power bills, burn through water, and power Silicon Valley’s AI apparatus.
asserted
They → run → apparatus
America rejected data centers last night as both symbols of the big tech oligarchy and a physical manifestation of the future it wants to build.
asserted
it → reject → future
It’s a future Americans seem willing to fight.
asserted
Americans → ’ → ?
Elon Musk, one of the night’s big losers, took a break from a weeks-long posting spree on X as the election results rolled in.
asserted
results → take → X
Musk spent half a billion dollars on the midterms, $224 of it in Texas, the state where he lives and does a lot of business.
asserted
he → spend → business
The world’s richest man wanted to cover the state in data centers.
asserted
man → want → centers
Those plans aren’t looking good now that Abbott is out and Hinojoa is in.
asserted
Hinojoa → look → ?
Musk broke his election day posting silence a little after 1 am.
asserted
Musk → break → am
“Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now,” he said on X.
asserted
he → look → space
Chased off the land by its people, the billionaire looks to the sky.
asserted
billionaire → chase → sky
The Aporia
