Datacenter-related measures were on the ballot in at least 40 jurisdictions across 10 states in the 2026 US midterm elections, and voters approved nearly every datacenter moratorium before them, dozens in total. Newly elected governors in Texas, Georgia and Ohio have each promised curbs on construction, adding political weight to the local results.

Where the bans and moratoriums passed

The local votes produced concrete restrictions in several states:

• •In Ohio alone, at least 14 municipalities passed bans or restrictions on datacenter development, including Sunbury, where Amazon has proposed a $2m datacenter project.
• •In Maine, eight municipalities passed temporary datacenter moratoriums.
• •In Emporia, Kansas, voters approved a ban on high-impact datacenters after a 1,000-acre gigawatt-scale datacenter was recently proposed there.

The one exception

The results were not unanimous. The small city of Hardwood, North Dakota, with a population of less than 1,000 people, voted down restrictions on datacenter development - the single exception the results produced.

Governors who promised curbs

In Texas, Democrat Gina Hinojosa secured a historic victory as governor over Republican Greg Abbott and has promised to impose moratoriums on datacenter construction, along with greater restrictions and more community input. Abbott, late in his tenure, reversed his earlier welcoming stance, demanding an end to electricity subsidies for datacenters.

In Georgia, Keisha Lance Bottoms, and in Ohio, Amy Acton - both newly elected governors - have also pledged to implement moratoria on the construction of large datacenters. Their pledges follow Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who in May signed a bill imposing strict regulations on large-scale datacenters.

What the results mean for the AI buildout

Elon Musk, who gave more than $400m to conservative candidates, reacted on X: "Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now".

Analyst Dan Ives said the results show the pace of datacenter buildout will start to slow down. In his view, there is no way to sugarcoat it: Democrats taking control, especially over the Senate, will create some major hurdles for AI and tech legislation in the Beltway over the next two years.

Ives called Hinojosa a "known anti-datacenter politician" and said Texas was the biggest worry of the night for tech investors and the AI trade, given that 25%-30% of data center gigawatts and capacity sit in the state. How quickly the slowdown arrives, he did not say.