Residents who fought the construction of artificial intelligence data centers in the United States are now running for office themselves.
A Heatmap poll conducted last month found that 75% of Americans oppose a new data center being built where they live, Bloomberg reported on the 30th. The finding suggests that Republican and Democratic voters alike are lining up against data center construction.
Steven Kung, a film director and screenwriter who lives in Monterey Park, a Los Angeles suburb, had never considered running for public office. That changed when he learned that a 250,000-square-foot, 50-megawatt data center backed by Australian capital, along with more than 10 diesel generators, was coming to the Saturn Park industrial complex, a five-minute walk from his home.
"When I heard a data center was coming to our neighborhood, I didn't even know what it was. I had to look it up," he said. After researching the project, he concluded that the facility's pollution and power consumption would harm the neighborhood and erode the value of the home he had put his life savings into.
After testifying against the project at a public hearing last December, Kung co-founded No Data Center Monterey Park with his neighbors. The group pushed the developer to withdraw the project in April, and in a June special election, Monterey Park voters approved one of the earliest data center development bans in the country. Along the way, Kung launched a campaign for city council.
Trump Calls It 'False,' but AI Skepticism Spreads Within the Republican Party
The backlash is nationwide. Data Center Watch, a research group, counted 843 groups opposing data centers across the United States. Campaigns have sprung up in every state except Hawaii. Between April and June, at least 45 projects were halted or delayed by local opposition.
Amanda Litman, co-founder of the progressive group Run for Something, called it a "political gateway issue," saying it draws activists in and gives them a foundation to take the next step. She said her organization had set a record for candidate recruitment for 18 consecutive months. Jon Kua, campaigns director at Lead Locally, which backs candidates running on climate platforms, said opposition to data center construction "will shape climate, progressive and Democratic policy for years to come." Beyond data centers, these candidates are expected to run on similar platforms covering local control, environmental protection, utility rates and limits on corporate tax breaks.
President Donald Trump has argued that data center expansion is necessary and has called the view that AI threatens safety "false." Some Republican governors and Senate candidates, by contrast, have turned toward AI skepticism, calling for tougher regulation or a moratorium on construction. In Utah, attorney Stephanie Hollist defeated J. Stuart Adams, a powerful state Senate figure who had backed the Stratos data center project, in a June primary.
