Politics
Democratic governors face voter backlash over datacenter support in swing states
July 15, 2026 at 12:55 PM · Updated 94d ago
Democratic politicians in Midwestern swing states have sparked opposition from voters by supporting large datacenter projects, and New York has enacted a moratorium on new datacenters.
- New York Governor Kathy Hochul issued an executive order mandating a one-year moratorium on new datacenters.
- Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer appeared with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to celebrate a $16 billion datacenter in Saline Township.
- Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib called Whitmer's support for the datacenter "disgusting".
- An Ipsos poll found that 64% of likely Democratic voters in Michigan opposed having a datacenter within 25 miles of their home.
Latest developments
- Jul 15 — President Trump criticized New York Governor Kathy Hochul's one-year moratorium on new hyperscale datacenters, calling it politically motivated and harmful to job creation.
- Jul 15 — Hochul defended the pause as necessary to establish environmental and energy grid safeguards, directing state regulators to develop standards on water use, land disruption, and noise.