AI data centers affecting the November election was not on my bingo card

In my central New Jersey town, there is plenty of talk about massive, invasive infrastructure taking over communities.

But the chatter is typically about huge Amazon warehouses with seemingly as many robots as people, not the mega AI data centers being built in places like Abilene, Texas by companies like OpenAI (you might recall I visited https://open.substack.com/pub/sharongoldman/p/on-the-ground-in-texas-for-sam-altmans?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=9xkx3 the Abilene site for a media event a few weeks ago).

So in doing research for a new Fortune story this week, “Huge AI data centers are turning local elections into fights over the future of energy,” https://fortune.com/2025/10/22/ai-data-centers-politics-elections-energy/?sge456 (gift link), I was surprised to discover that these data centers have become a part of political platforms here as electricity rates have shot up in the state.

I know, I admit I have not been watching the Garden State governor race action closely. But it turns out that AI data centers have suddenly become one of the most potent political flashpoints of 2025, igniting fierce debates over power, water, land, and jobs. Critics blame them for rising electricity bills and strained water supplies, while supporters tout their potential to spur economic growth and deliver tax windfalls to long-stagnant communities. 

Those debates are coming to a head this fall in Virginia and New Jersey—the only states holding gubernatorial elections this year. The two races offer early test cases for how the politics of AI infrastructure could shape campaigns nationwide in 2026 and beyond. At issue are tax incentives and infrastructure costs states are offering to attract hyperscale AI data centers; mounting concerns about electricity and water use; the limited local jobs such projects deliver compared with their enormous resource demands; and growing scrutiny of Big Tech’s political influence—all against the backdrop of a two-party scramble to control the pace and terms of the AI buildout.

For New Jersey, it's not even about the data centers that currently exist in the state, but the fact that electricity rates took a 20% jump in June as a result of price-setting capacity auctions—the market where power producers are paid to guarantee future supply. Power prices soared to new highs on the expectation of data centers’ ballooning electricity needs, and are expected to rise again next June.

That has led to political tension that is sure to translate to many more states and local races in 2026: NJ Democratic candidate Mikie Sherrill backs legislation that would require data centers to help fund grid modernization, while Republican Jack Ciattarelli is focused on attracting more facilities to “supercharge economic growth” and wants to bring new natural gas plants online to meet the soaring demand.

But don't fool yourself - this is not a left vs right issue. There are strange bedfellows across the political spectrum from Pennsylvania to Texas to California and Georgia. The AI data center boom may be happening, but communities across the U.S. are going to have something to say about it -- for or against.