Anger over the perceived trampling of communities by Silicon Valley has entered the national political conversation and could affect voters of all political persuasions in this year’s midterm elections.

Many of the neighbors fighting the project in Sand Springs voted for Trump three times and also backed Republican Gov. J. Kevin Stitt, who implores tech firms to build in his state.

“We know Trump wants data centers and Kevin Stitt wants data centers, but these things don’t affect these people,” said Brian Ingram, a Trump voter living in the shadow of the planned project. “You know, this affects us.”

snip

The grassroots blowback comes from deep red states as much as from left-wing groups such as the Democratic Socialists of America, which have helped draw hundreds of residents to hearings in Arizona, Indiana and Maryland.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wants to block the construction of any new data centers to protect people from the harms of artificial intelligence. But few Democrats — including some of his picks in key midterm races — have joined his call for a moratorium despite agreeing that regulators aren’t keeping up with the threats artificial intelligence poses to utility bills and resources.

The split shows how neither party has a united strategy to take advantage of voters’ distrust of artificial intelligence heading into the 2026 midterms. Democratic candidates in Virginia and New Jersey have already capitalized on that distaste to win key gubernatorial races, highlighting how powerful of an issue AI could be in November.