Data center boom puts GOP in a bind before midterms

A year ago, there weren't many voters talking about data centers. Now, the massive facilities being built to satisfy the enormous computing needs of the AI boom have become one of the most explosive issues of the 2026 midterms, and their construction is opening a divide between the Trump administration and Republicans running in state and federal races this fall. When ChatGPT launched in late 2022, most data centers were being built in blue states. But by 2025, 68% of data centers online were in red states. Now, 75% of data centers under construction and 80% of data centers in the planning stage are in predominantly Republican states, according to new data from Cleanview Research, an independent energy market intelligence company tracking data center development.

"Red states have more of a history of accepting large, energy intensive, infrastructure projects — even those that might have detrimental effects on communities," said Chris Millay, a data center analyst at the macroeconomic consultancy Greenmantle. He also points to the relative lack of environmental regulation and the availability of open land as reasons rural states are receiving more investment. President Trump sees the AI race as critical to the economy and national security, and he's one of data centers' biggest boosters. At a recent Ohio rally, he said of data centers, "We want them