2026 is a midterm election year, and we’re already in primary season now – which means this is a crucial time to be picking candidates who are taking AI threats seriously and not getting caught up in the hype. Data centers have especially been a big issue this year, and increasingly candidates are realizing they have to be prepared to respond to voters’ concerns.

As a window into how things are playing out, let’s take a look at the Michigan Senate race. Abdul El-Sayed, a Democratic candidate in the race, came out swinging on the issue early in the year when he released his “Terms of Engagement for Data Centers” as a part of his proposed policy agenda. Among the list of expectations for data center operators:

State Senator Mallory McMorrow, also running for U.S. Senate in Michigan’s Democratic primary, dedicates a page on her campaign site to the issue, “Data Centers Done Right,” where she lays out her own agenda. It includes some of the same points as El-Sayed’s around data centers paying for themselves and providing good jobs for Michiganders, along with requiring data centers to source most of their electricity from renewables and some proposed building restrictions for data centers internationally.

While her agenda for keeping data centers in check appears pretty strong, McMorrow’s weakness on the issue is that she already voted in 2024 to give big tax breaks to tech companies – an effort literally designed to attract data center projects to the state. It may have seemed like a good idea at the time, since eligible projects would require at least $250 million in investment and the creation of some jobs, but a lot of the public has become hostile to data centers since then.

She may be viewed as unreliable on the issue as a result of that vote, a Johnny-come-lately who is merely responding to recent public pressure. But, to be fair, we are all trying to grapple with the effects of AI in real time and so people are bound to evolve in their views as new information becomes available. We are also certain to see more backlash against AI-related tech, products, and projects as the consequences become more clear.

Other major candidates in the Michigan Senate race, like Congresswoman Haley Stevens, who is running in the August primary against El-Sayed and McMorrow, and Republican Mike Rogers, who is expected to win his primary, are not focusing much attention on data centers – yet.

Opposition to the centers has become one of the most impassioned and bi-partisan issues that we’ve seen in quite awhile in this country, and it probably won’t be long before virtually every political candidate feels the pressure to weigh in. The challenge for voters will be to discern whether they are serious or not.

Some questions to ask yourself when evaluating a candidate’s position on data centers:

These questions might help you along in making a determination, but even after voting, a sustained public response will be critical. Elected officials face competing pressures from different constituents with conflicting interests, and their instinct is usually to want to encourage business in their state or district. We have to make it easier for them to say no to – or at least put major strictures on – data center projects by ensuring that they know where the community stands.