Democrats win 2026 midterms amid voter backlash against AI data centers

Democratic candidates swept contests across the United States in the 2026 midterms, The Guardian and TIME reported. The party intends to make AI firms answer for the environmental and social costs of constructing data centers and for harm caused by their products, according to The Guardian. The incoming Congress is likely to shield voters from higher data-center prices, mandate independent safety testing for powerful AI, and set liability for harms, according to The Guardian.

On Nov. 6, 2026, The Guardian published an editorial framing the U.S. midterms as a political reckoning for the artificial intelligence industry. According to the editorial, Thursday marked Wall Street’s worst trading session since the pandemic, erasing $3.2 trillion from markets.

According to The Guardian, Anthropic aimed to list its shares within two weeks for $1.5 trillion, though it may fall short of a trillion dollars. Nvidia’s market value dropped by more than $400 billion. Elon Musk’s personal fortune fell by $113 billion over two days.

The Guardian said Donald Trump described warnings about AI dangers as a “hoax”. Trump called computing power a national asset requiring rapid growth and dismissed opposition to the facilities and firms behind them. He also supported rapid data-center expansion despite voter opposition, according to The Guardian and TIME.

Bans, moratoriums, and voter anger spread across multiple states, turning data centers into a political liability, according to The Guardian and TIME. Musk put $200 million into Texas races backing Republicans and $168 million behind Ken Paxton, according to The Guardian and TIME. Democrats attacked AI data centers amid voter anger over rapid industry growth, according to The Guardian.

According to The Guardian, Democrats secured a U.S. Senate seat, the Texas governorship, every remaining statewide Republican office, and the Texas House with a comfortable margin. In Texas, James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton after running against sweetheart tax deals for Big Tech and other guardrails, TIME reported. TIME said Democratic candidates won many decisive races, including contests in Ohio, Kansas, and Iowa. The Guardian noted that SpaceX cautioned in its June 2026 filing that fresh rules could slow its business growth.

Bans or moratoriums on data centers passed in counties from Edgewater, Florida, to Bloomington, Illinois, according to TIME. According to TIME, voters recalled the mayors of Piqua, Ohio, and Yukon, Oklahoma, over their previous backing of data center projects.

Annie Andrews defeated Darline Graham after labeling her Data Center Darline and demanding a two-year pause on new data center projects, TIME reported. Sherrod Brown carried Ohio’s Senate race by five points after running millions of dollars of ads labeling Husted the face of data centers in Ohio, according to TIME. An August memo from the National Republican Senatorial Committee called data centers a liability for Husted’s campaign, according to TIME.

In Kansas, Cindy Holscher led the governor’s race after seeking a pause on data centers until the state adopted guardrails, TIME reported. A data center super PAC gave Ty Masterson $1.5 million in the Kansas governor’s contest, according to TIME. TIME reported that Amish Shah, who pledged to stop data center construction, led Jay Feely in Arizona’s race.

TIME identified Elon Musk as the cycle’s largest donor at $446 million. TIME said Democratic campaign spending topped $100 million on television ads linking Republican candidates to Big Tech and data centers. According to TIME, a pro-AI super PAC called Leading the Future launched in August 2025 with more than $100 million to back candidates.

Three-quarters of likely voters said they would be less likely to support a candidate who took money from an AI super PAC, according to a survey cited by TIME. As the election neared, OpenAI’s Greg Brockman and Ron Conway withdrew previously promised donations, according to TIME. Anthropic gave more than $40 million to Public First Action, an advocate for stronger AI safeguards, according to TIME. Anthropic employees gave another $5 million separately to support campaign efforts, according to TIME.

A pro-safety group spent more than $880,000 against Derrick Van Orden in Wisconsin, where Rebecca Cooke won, according to TIME. In a New York congressional primary, pro-safety groups spent $21.3 million backing Alex Bores while accelerationists spent $8.2 million opposing him, according to TIME. Micah Lasher defeated Alex Bores even though Lasher had endorsed the identical AI safety measure that made Bores an industry target, according to TIME.

After accelerationists proved ineffective, pro-safety political action committees outspent them in important races, according to TIME. Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and Manny Rutinel in Colorado won among candidates backed by pro-safety groups, according to TIME. Spending by data center and accelerationist super PACs did not significantly influence the election, according to TIME.

An NBC exit poll cited by TIME found that 56 percent of voters called AI and data centers a crucial or major factor in their congressional vote. Blue Rose Research polling cited by TIME found Americans prefer living near a prison, methadone clinic, or nuclear power plant over living near an AI data center. According to TIME, Blue Rose Research’s research director, Ali Mortell, said local effects like higher energy bills, noise, and environmental harm matter more to voters than existential AI fears.

TIME reported that Blue Rose Research polling places AI 29th among 39 issues. Blue Rose Research polling cited by TIME said AI’s issue salience rose more than any other issue in the past year, including the war in the Middle East. An October Politico survey found that nearly half of Americans view Republicans as the faction most enthusiastic about building data centers, according to TIME.

According to TIME, AI deepfakes circulated during the campaign without significantly affecting many races. Before the election, deepfake videos showed Maine Senator-elect Troy Jackson threatening his staff, yet Jackson won by more than seven points, according to TIME. According to TIME, Derrick Van Orden shared deepfake videos of Rebecca Cooke saying things she never said on social media, and Van Orden lost.

TIME, citing Axios, said OpenAI plans a policy and public relations campaign that would rename data centers as AI compute campuses. TIME reported that Meta is assembling a bipartisan team to improve ties with Democrats while keeping Republican relationships.

According to TIME, sweeping federal AI regulation is unlikely soon because Democrats would need substantial Republican backing to override a presidential veto. With Trump as president, sweeping federal AI legislation would likely require his signature or enough bipartisan support to override a veto, according to TIME. According to TIME, Congress may summon executives to testify before committees and reverse Republican attempts to prevent state-level AI laws.

TIME said SB-53 is the first U.S. law governing frontier AI systems. A report for California Gov. Gavin Newsom that informed SB-53 came from Scott Singer of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, according to TIME.

The Guardian said AI was cited as the cause of 120,000 U.S. job losses this year alone. The Guardian said AI may transform the economy without guaranteeing that investors recover the money being poured into it. According to The Guardian, Goldman Sachs’ research boss and Nobel laureate Daron Acemoğlu are among the influential figures who share that view.