Democrats Drive Voter Opposition To Data Centers, Politico Poll Finds

Americans’ attitudes toward data centers have grown increasingly sour and politically polarized in the past six months, a trend that signals trouble for the artificial intelligence industry and leaders of both parties, according to new results from The POLITICO Poll. 

While growing opposition to the sprawling, server-packed data hubs is coming from both sides of the political aisle, it’s especially evident among Democrats, whose opposition to the projects has grown much faster than antagonism from Republicans, according to the July surveyconducted by the independent polling organization Public First.

The poll also found that more people now oppose nearby data centers than support them — a reversal from the findings of an earlier POLITICO Poll in January.

The new poll found that 41 percent of Americans would oppose a data center being built within three miles of where they live, up from 28 percent in the January survey. The number supporting those projects dropped during the same period, from 37 percent to 24 percent.

The shift was especially pronounced among people who said they had voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race.

The results reflect the scope of the challenge facing the industry and its supporters as the rapid buildout of data centers brings the issue home to voters ahead of the November midterms. More than 200 data centers are going up in dozens of competitive House districts, a recent POLITICO analysis found.

“It's rare to see political attitudes change this fast in an era where they are often quite static and partisan,” said Seb Wride, head of polling at Public First.

The slide in public support is happening even as top Democrats struggle to define a position on the issue: This week, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul became just the first governor to approve a statewide moratorium on new data center projects, a pause that supporters say would give policymakers the time needed to address concerns over rising energy costs and water consumption associated with the infrastructure.

But similar halts have yet to win endorsements from Hochul’s fellow Democratic governors or the party’s top leaders in Congress, such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump champions the projects as essential to U.S. supremacy in AI, lauding them as “big, strong, bold … Money Machines,” despite criticism of data centers from top Republicans in states such as Florida.

Dan Diorio, executive vice president of state policy and government affairs at the Data Center Coalition, an industry group that represents Google, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon’s AWS, defended the infrastructure as a job creator and economic driver.

“Recent polling data reinforces our view of the importance of continued efforts to better explain the role of the industry to the public through community engagement and stakeholder education, including factual information about the industry’s responsible usage of water and our commitment to paying for the energy we use,” Diorio said.

As the data center issue becomes more salient among voters, Democrats could use the moment to take a hard line on the infrastructure, while Republicans could risk ending up on the losing side of a populist groundswell.

“I think it's right for the leaders to be stepping back from this to see how it develops on the ground,” said Brad Carson, a former Oklahoma Democratic representative and head of Public First Action, a super PAC network pushing for AI regulations. (That organization has no relation to POLITICO’s polling partner.) “But if you're a Democratic politician, for better or worse, this is just catnip because it's a question that divides the Republican base.”

In January, people who said they had voted for Harris in 2024 were split on the question of data centers: Thirty-six percent said they would support a data center being built close to their home, and 33 percent said they would not.

By July, 53 percent of Harris voters opposed building a data center nearby. Just 22 percent said they would support it.

The POLITICO Poll surveyed adults across the country just days before Hochul instituted her state’s one-year moratorium on large-scale data centers. Her directive has AI industry leaders anxious it could embolden other Democrats across the country to take similar actions.

Google, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft, four of the largest data center builders, declined to comment on the new poll results. A spokesperson for Microsoft pointed POLITICO to a January blog post from its president, Brad Smith, on how the company is working to build “community-first AI infrastructure.”

Progressive lawmakers such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who introduced a bill to impose a federal data center moratorium with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), see New York’s policy as proof the concept is entering the mainstream.

But some Democratic leaders are unwilling to go that far. Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who made cracking down on data centers an issue during her campaign, shot down the idea of a federal moratorium.

On Capitol Hill, Democratic leaders on AI fear such a pause would cede the global AI race to China or cause irreparable economic harm by interrupting U.S. advances in the rapidly evolving technology.

“Just having a blanket moratorium saying we’re just going to pack up, go home, hand AI over to China and let them beat us makes zero sense to me,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), co-chair of the House Democratic Commission on AI, told POLITICO on Tuesday.

Trump voters are also having a reckoning with data centers, according to the poll results. Six months ago, a 45 percent plurality of 2024 Trump voters said they would support the construction of a data center within three miles of their home, while 26 percent would oppose it. Now, only 34 percent said they would support such a project and 33 percent would oppose it.

Even self-identified MAGA Trump voters — who are more inclined to support data centers than those who said they are not “MAGA Republicans” — have grown skeptical of massive facilities during the past six months, the survey found.

That shift will make it harder for both parties to ignore the issue heading into the midterms.

Several red state leaders, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, have implemented measures to protect ratepayers from bearing the brunt of rising utility costs. In South Carolina, Republican Rep. Nancy Mace endorsed a moratorium.

But many Republicans on Capitol Hill still view the idea of a moratorium as a radical idea. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Tuesday condemned Hochul’s decision to impose a one-year pause on data center construction, and said the move “reflects the hardcore left-wing values of the Democrats.”

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) said Tuesday that while he understands broad public concerns about data centers, it’s necessary to find a solution other than a pause on infrastructure construction.

“No tax incentives, no impact on power, closed loop on water, some sort of community benefit,” Moreno said. “That's a way that people can say this is actually a net benefit of the United States.”