The 2026 US Midterms and Data Centres — Limits Win 40 of 41 Ballot Measures, and AI Stocks Fall

On 3 November 2026, the day of the US midterm elections, data centres were not only an issue candidates talked about: in 41 local ballot measures across ten states they were the question on the ballot itself. According to Ballotpedia, the side favouring limits on data-centre development won 40 of the 41 contests. Two days later Wall Street had its worst day since April 2025, as investors weighed what the results meant for the build-out of AI computing capacity.

What Was on the Ballot

Ballotpedia counted 27 measures that limited data-centre development or expressed opposition to it, and all 27 passed. Another 13 would have favoured development or expressed support for it, and all 13 were defeated. The lone result the other way came from Harwood, North Dakota, a town of fewer than 800 people according to Al Jazeera, where voters defeated a proposed review requirement for certain developments, including data centres.

The trend did not begin on election day. Ballotpedia noted that voters had decided six local data-centre measures earlier in 2026 and had favoured limits in all six; two more measures in Clarksville, Arkansas, and one in Mandan, North Dakota, were due in December. Al Jazeera, relying on a separate tracker run by Redbud Consulting, reached the same picture of 41 measures and a single exception.

Ohio, Texas and the Top of the Ticket

Ohio accounted for more than half of the measures. It is also where OpenAI announced on 17 August 2026 that it had agreed to secure about 8 gigawatts of IT capacity at the PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Pike County, working with SB Energy, Nvidia and the US Department of Energy. CNBC called it the largest planned AI data-centre campus in the world, with capacity expected to come online in phases from 2028.

The same voters changed who would govern the state. Democrat Amy Acton defeated Republican Vivek Ramaswamy for governor; CNBC reported that she supports a "conditional moratorium" on data centres to ensure they cover the full cost of the utilities they use. In the Senate race Sherrod Brown ousted Jon Husted, whom, according to Al Jazeera, he had attacked over his support for data-centre development. In Texas, Gina Hinojosa unseated Governor Greg Abbott after blaming him for the rapid build-out of data centres across the state; Al Jazeera reported that she had called for a moratorium on new approvals.

In a CNBC Voter Poll, 56% of voters said data centres were a crucial or major factor in their decision, with Democrats ranking the issue higher than Republicans. CNBC also reported that Elon Musk, the cycle's largest individual donor, spent at least $474 million, nearly half of it in Texas, and lost both of the state's marquee races. Al Jazeera pointed to the costs voters see directly: a 2026 working paper from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas estimated that data centres had raised wholesale electricity prices by 6.9%.

The Market Reads the Result

The first reaction was not a sell-off. CNBC described a massive post-election rally on Wednesday 4 November, while stocks tied to chips and data centres began to slide. On Thursday the selling broadened. CNBC reported that investors were moving away from technology on fears that a Democratic sweep of both chambers of Congress, together with wins in key governor races, could slow the data-centre build-out; it noted that Senator Bernie Sanders had called for a national data-centre moratorium.

The selling in Seoul was heaviest in chip stocks. According to the Hankook Ilbo, SK Hynix closed 10.44% lower and Samsung Electronics 6.35% lower on 6 November, while foreign investors sold a net 2.74 trillion won of Korean shares. The Korean market reports attributed the slide to worries that the US results could bring tighter rules on data-centre construction, after the 12.25% fall in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index the night before.

Europe the Same Week

On Friday 6 November protesters entered the Amsterdam construction site of a data-centre campus that DutchNews described as a €1 billion, 78 MW project built by Pure DC and let in full to Microsoft; some climbed cranes. The action had been organised by the group Geef Tegengas. Dutch police said that evening that they had detained 150 to 200 people suspected of trespassing, the Associated Press reported. According to AP, organisers said dozens of groups would join "Stop Dirty Data Centres" events on 6 and 7 November in 15 European countries, calling for a moratorium on large-scale data-centre development; AP reported about 100 people protesting in front of the parliament in Warsaw. AP noted that the protests came days after the US midterms, without describing them as a consequence of the vote.

Where It Fits

For two years the argument over the AI bubble had been about valuations, circular deals and whether the spending would pay back. The IEA's estimates had put the electricity demand of data centres on the table, and projects such as Stargate had made the scale concrete. The November 2026 vote added another constraint: local consent. Whether the elected officials follow through with moratoriums, and how much of the planned capacity is affected, had not been settled by 9 November 2026.

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