Local Voters Push Back on Meta's AI Data Center Plans After Midterm Ballot Measures

Meta president Dina Powell McCormick said the midterm election results will make building data centers significantly harder for the company. Voters decided more than 40 ballot measures on data centers across ten states, and opponents won nearly all of them, including a capacity cap in Trenton, Ohio that passed with almost 80 percent of the vote. Local opposition has risen sharply, with one estimate putting the share of people opposed at 75 percent, up from 42 percent a year earlier. Analysts at New Street Research estimate local resistance blocked or delayed nearly $200 billion in data center projects in the first half of 2026. Meta has proposed a model in which it covers its own electricity costs, directs tax surpluses to local schools and first responders, and hires locally, but critics question whether this approach can win community support at scale.