Data center opponents gained ground in the midterms; local governments had already adopted 508 moratoriums and bans, SignalData’s tracker shows

Opposition to large AI data centers ran through the 2026 midterm campaigns, and many of the winners promised tighter rules, the Associated Press reported Nov. 6. AP reported that hard-line positions against data centers were part of many winners’ platforms, including those of the Democrats who won governor’s races in Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Nevada and Iowa, states with many data center projects.¹

The election came after a year in which cities and counties had already moved. SignalData’s data center tracker records 508 local moratoriums and bans adopted by 503 local governments, mostly cities and counties, in 42 states. Of those, 478 were adopted in 2026, and 272 of them came in June, July and August.²

What the tracker shows

The tracker lists 1,537 data center campuses in all 50 states and the District of Columbia: 470 operating, 189 under construction, 226 approved and 320 proposed. Another 140 were withdrawn by their developers or denied by local officials, and 52 are on hold under a local moratorium.²

The 508 local actions are 441 moratoriums, which pause new applications or approvals for a set period, and 67 bans. The count includes only actions a local government adopted. It leaves out moratoriums and bans that were proposed, still being drafted or voted down; with those, the tracker lists 864 local actions.²

Georgia had the most adopted moratoriums and bans, 46, followed by North Carolina with 42, New Jersey with 37, Indiana with 32 and Ohio with 23.² Nine places have none on record: Alaska, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.²

In the states AP highlighted

• \1 207 campuses, more than any other state, including 64 proposed and 47 under construction; three local moratoriums or bans.
• \1 99 campuses, 26 of them proposed; 46 local moratoriums or bans, the most of any state.
• \1 56 campuses; 23 local moratoriums or bans.
• \1 28 campuses; 19 local moratoriums or bans.
• \1 28 campuses; six local moratoriums or bans.
• \1 73 campuses, 36 of them proposed; 10 denied, more than in any other state; nine local moratoriums or bans.
• \1 14, 19 and 12 local moratoriums or bans.²

AP reported that Democrats also won full control of state government in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Michigan.¹

On the ballot

Data center rules were on the ballot mostly at the local level. AP cited Redbud Consulting, a polling and data firm, which tracked 47 local referendums in 12 states and reported that restrictions passed in 44 of the 45 with complete counts.¹ Among the local measures in SignalData’s tracker:

• \1 A resident-petitioned charter amendment banning data centers over 25 MW passed 2,301 to 1,218 in unofficial results, the Star Beacon reported.³
• \1 Charter bans on large data centers passed in unofficial results, Fortune reported.⁴
• \1 Voters rejected a question that would have allowed data centers in the city’s Eldorado Valley land, about 71% to 29% in unofficial results, KSNV reported.⁵

What candidates and the industry said

AP cited Data Center Watch, a project of the AI security consultancy 10a Labs, as finding that 32 of the 34 winning candidates for governor in races AP had called support stronger regulation or restrictions, and 12 support bans or moratoriums. It cited AdImpact as reporting more than $380 million in TV ads that mentioned data centers, with Democrats outspending Republicans more than 3 to 1 on the subject.¹

Wisconsin Gov.-elect David Crowley, a Democrat, told AP he is weighing proposals that would require developers to disclose more about their water and energy use and require community support before a project goes forward.¹ Dan Diorio of the Data Center Coalition, an industry group, told AP the industry expects winners to act on moratorium pledges and warned that host communities could lose tax revenue.¹

AP also reported that about three-quarters of voters in its AP Voter Poll opposed building a new data center in their community, and that about one in four called data centers crucial to their vote for Congress.¹

What the records do not show

• The tracker counts what SignalData has found and sourced; states were last reviewed between Oct. 17 and Nov. 3, 2026, so later actions are not yet included.
• A moratorium or ban says nothing about why it passed. The records do not show how much the campaigns or the election affected any local vote.
• The tracker does not cover city-level referendum results in full; the results above are unofficial and come from the outlets named.
• Candidates’ pledges are not policy; the governors-elect named here have not taken office.