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Amanda Greenwood

By Amanda Greenwood

Associate News Editor

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Data centers have emerged as a defining issue in the 2026 midterm elections, with Ohio accounting for more than half of the data center-related measures being considered by voters across the United States.

According to Ballotpedia’s nationwide tracker, voters in eight states (Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kansas, California, Michigan, Nevada, and Florida) will decide on at least 39 local ballot measures related to data centers in 2026.

Ohio alone accounts for 21 of those measures across 18 jurisdictions, more than half of the national total. Illinois has seven measures, while Wisconsin and Kansas each have three. California has two, while Michigan, Nevada and Florida each have one.

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35 of the 39 measures are scheduled for the November 3 general election, while voters decided on the other four earlier in the year. In all four, the outcomes favored greater restrictions on data center development, either by approving new limits or rejecting proposals that would have supported development.

Ballotpedia map showing states that have local data center ballot measures, focusing on Ohio which has 21.

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In terms of Ohio, voters will consider proposals ranging from outright prohibitions on large data centers to zoning referendums, financial-guarantee requirements, and measures requiring public approval before developments can proceed.

Several initiatives would prohibit facilities whose electricity demand exceeds 25 megawatts, the same threshold used in a proposed statewide constitutional amendment certified by the Ohio Ballot Board in April.

The 21 Ohio Measures

The 21 Ohio measures identified by Ballotpedia are:

The measures don’t all ask voters to reject data centers. Ashville’s referendum concerns development negotiations, Monroeville’s advisory question asks whether officials should permit development, and the Wilmington questions concern rezoning land for light-industrial use.

Nevertheless, the proposed bans, zoning controls, and voter-approval requirements point to significant reservations and concerns about the speed and scale of data center development.

Data Centers Enter the Senate Race

The issue is also affecting Ohio’s closely watched special Senate election between Republican Senator Jon Husted and former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown.

Kalshi prediction market poll showing Husted vs Brown

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As of October 5, the Kalshi Ohio Senate prediction market gave Brown a 63 percent chance of winning and Husted a 37 percent chance. The market displayed a polling average of 48.4 percent for Brown and 44 percent for Husted.

Data centers are particularly important for Husted because he has aligned himself with the Trump administration’s effort to accelerate AI infrastructure development while addressing public concern about electricity prices.

At a White House event in March, Husted praised President Donald Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge, saying it addressed concerns by having data center operators build new power plants and support “affordable, reliable electricity” for ratepayers, “helping them win the affordability battle.”

Not only has data center infrastructure become an increasingly important issue in the 2026 midterms, but it also features in Newsweek's AI Policy Scorecard, which evaluates all sitting members of Congress on a scale from 1, "AI Skeptic," to 5, "AI Booster."

The scorecard assesses voting records and public positions across five categories:

Jon Husted's profile places him on the more pro-AI side of the spectrum, reflecting a position that’s more supportive of AI development, data center expansion, and policies intended to prevent the costs of new power infrastructure from being shifted onto residential ratepayers.

Husted is included in the AI Policy scorecard because he’s a sitting senator. However, former Senator Sherrod Brown isn’t a sitting member of Congress and is, therefore, not included in the 2026 scorecard.

But Brown has made data centers a major campaign issue, arguing that large technology companies should bear the full cost of the power they consume and criticizing projects he says can raise electricity costs for households and place additional strain on local communities.

Brown has framed the issue around consumer affordability and corporate accountability, while Husted has emphasized economic development, AI competitiveness, and infrastructure investment.

Newsweek has contacted both Brown and Husted for comment.

What Trump Says About Data Centers

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures after speaking to the media as he departs the White House on October 01, 2026 in Washington, DC.

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Trump has attempted to position himself as supportive of rapid data center expansion while arguing that technology companies, rather than households, should pay for the electricity infrastructure they require.

In March, Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle and xAI signed the administration’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge, which meant they agreed to build, bring or buy new electricity generation, pay for the power-delivery upgrades required by their data centers and negotiate separate rate structures with utilities and state governments.

Trump said the agreement meant major technology companies would fully cover the increased electricity-production costs associated with AI data centers, preventing prices from rising for surrounding communities and potentially lowering them in some cases: “Under this new agreement, Big Tech companies are committing to fully cover the cost of increased electricity production required for AI data centers — and that would mean prices for American communities will not go up, but in many cases, will actually come down.”

The White House said in July that more than 200 additional utilities, data center developers, cooperatives and states had joined the expanded initiative. It said the pledge then (at the time of publishing) covered 80 percent of power delivered to American homes and businesses and protected 263 million Americans.

A Local Issue With National Consequences

The ballot measures demonstrate why data centers have become politically difficult for candidates in both parties. Lawmakers must balance promised investment, construction work, and American leadership in AI against concerns about household electricity bills, water use, tax subsidies, noise, land use, and local control.

Decisions about utility regulation, zoning, local tax incentives, environmental reviews, and who pays for new generation and transmission infrastructure are increasingly becoming tests of whether elected officials are protecting residents or promoting economic development at their expense.

The 2026 elections therefore represent an early national referendum on how the United States should accommodate the infrastructure behind AI. Trump and Husted have argued that the country can build the necessary facilities while protecting ratepayers by requiring technology companies to pay their own way. The proliferation of proposed bans and approval requirements suggests that many communities remain unconvinced that current safeguards go far enough.

Ohio, with more than half of the measures identified in Ballotpedia’s September analysis, is at the center of that test. The results will not simply determine where individual facilities can be built. They could influence how lawmakers across the country approach data center zoning, electricity costs, AI infrastructure, and community consent long after the midterms are over.

Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly and Cristina Diciu.

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