2026 Midterms: Two Governors, One Senate Seat Lost Over Data Centers

Candidates who campaigned against data center expansion won races up and down the 2026 midterm ballot, from a flipped U.S. Senate seat in Ohio to governorships in two of the country's biggest data center hubs, according to WIRED.

The results arrived the same week Democrats were weighing how hard to press affordability and corruption as core 2026 themes, a question raised separately by House Democratic Caucus Chair Joseph Morelle. Data centers, tied in many voters' minds to AI buildout, electricity costs and local land use, became one answer to that question on Tuesday night.

Ohio's Senate Race Turns on Data Center Attacks

Democrat Sherrod Brown won Ohio's Senate seat after airing ads for months describing his Republican opponent as "the face of data centers in Ohio," per WIRED. The win flipped the seat for Democrats in a state that has become one of the Midwest's fastest-growing data center markets.

New Hampshire's Pappas Draws Boos for the Opposite Reason

Democrat Chris Pappas, who will be the Senate's first openly gay male member, mentioned his opposition to data centers in his victory speech in New Hampshire and drew loud boos from supporters, WIRED reported — even though the state has no large-scale data center under construction. The reaction suggests the issue carries symbolic weight beyond any single state's project pipeline.

House Races: "Data Center Derek" and "DC Derrick" Both Lose

Two Republican House candidates, both nicknamed by Democratic opponents over their records on data centers — "Data Center Derek" in Ohio and "DC Derrick" in Wisconsin — lost their races, according to WIRED. Not every anti-data-center message worked for the party that used it, however. In Wisconsin, Republican Tom Tiffany attacked Democrat David Crowley early in the campaign as "Data Center David Crowley," and Tiffany still lost after Crowley hardened his own position and signaled support for a moratorium two weeks before the election, WIRED reported.

Moratorium Candidates Win Governorships in Georgia, Texas and Possibly Kansas

The clearest signal came in governor's races. Democrats Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia and Gina Hinojosa in Texas won their contests after campaigning on data center moratoriums, not just added regulation, per WIRED. Democrat Cindy Holscher remained on the cusp of a win in Kansas as of the report. Georgia and Texas rank among the largest data center development hubs in the country, and a pause in either state could affect hundreds of planned projects, according to WIRED.

"I think we will see the end to favorable tax breaks, and it's clear that people like Greg Abbott were harmed by their history of giving those financial incentives to AI companies and data center developers," said Alexander McCoy, a Democratic strategist working on AI, per WIRED. McCoy added that regulators appointed under the new administrations are likely to bring more scrutiny to permitting and stricter enforcement of environmental rules.

Why Voters Say the Issue Mattered

Almost a quarter of voters told NBC News that data centers were "crucial" to their vote, while nearly two-thirds called the issue either a major or minor factor, according to WIRED's citation of the NBC News survey.

By the Numbers

• Almost 25% of voters: called data centers "crucial" to their vote, per NBC News as cited by WIRED
• Nearly two-thirds of voters: said data centers were a major or minor factor in their vote, per the same survey

Texas Democratic Rep. Greg Casar framed the results as an early marker rather than a peak. "The revolt against data centers was one of the top issues of the 2026 election, and in a few years we will look back on it as just the early tremor of a much bigger AI earthquake upending American politics," Casar said in a statement reported by WIRED.

What the Results Mean for Pending Projects

McCoy told WIRED he expects fewer tax incentives for AI companies and data center developers going forward, along with administrative appointments that bring tighter scrutiny to permitting and environmental review. Whether moratorium pledges in Georgia, Texas and potentially Kansas translate into enforceable pauses will depend on each state's legislature and existing contracts with developers, details not addressed in the available reporting.

The pattern cuts across party lines in one respect: being anti-data-center was not sufficient on its own to win. Republican attacks branding Democratic opponents as industry allies failed in both Ohio and Wisconsin House races, while a Republican's own anti-data-center messaging in Wisconsin's Senate race did not prevent a loss. The deciding factor, based on the races WIRED tracked, was less the position itself than how central a candidate made it and how far they were willing to go — from regulation to outright moratorium.

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