As data centers become increasingly thrust into the political conversation during the 2026 election cycle, animosity towards the artificial intelligence data hubs has grown faster among Democrats than Republicans, while support has plummeted among all Americans.
The trend lines come from a new Politico/Public First poll released Tuesday. The poll pings 53% of Americans who voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 as opposed to data center development within 3 miles of their home. Comparatively, just 33% of Americans who voted for President Donald Trump in the 2024 election opposed development.
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However, the number of voters opposed to data center development near their homes has risen across the political spectrum since the outlet’s last poll in January 2026. From January to July, the share of surveyed Trump voters opposed to local data centers increased by 8 points, from 26% to 33%. On the Democratic side, the 33% of Harris voters opposed to nearby centers in January shot up 20 points to 53% opposed in July.
In total, across the political spectrum, 41% of survey respondents were opposed to the idea of building a data center within 3 miles of their home, while 24% supported the idea. Compared to just seven months ago, the outlet’s January survey results found that just 28% of respondents opposed the idea, while 37% supported it.
“It’s rare to see political attitudes change this fast in an era where they are often quite static and partisan,” head of polling at Public First, Seb Wride, told the outlet.
Over the past several months, the debate over data centers has seemingly come to a new head in the country’s political landscape.
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) signed a one-year moratorium on the sites in New York, the centers caused a rift among Democratic state legislators in Virginia, and Republicans who have fallen out of the president’s grace — such as Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Marjorie Taylor Greene — have also voiced skepticism over rapid data center expansion.
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This month in the Ohio Senate race, one of four toss-up Senate races, Democratic candidate Sherrod Brown made his policies and stances against rapid data center expansion a key point in his campaign, releasing multiple advertisements on the matter.
Opposition forces to data center development have voiced environmental concerns about how AI infrastructure uses a lot of water for cooling and can reportedly jack up nearby electricity bills due to increased electricity demand. However, data centers can also provide more local employment opportunities and grow local commercial tax bases, all while developing the domestic AI industry as the U.S. races to bolster it against China.
