More Than 50 Datacenter Activists Run for Local Office as $130 Billion in Projects Stall
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Sep 15
More Than 50 Datacenter Activists Run for Local Office as $130 Billion in Projects Stall
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 15
Summary
More than 50 anti-datacenter activists have signed up to run for local office, with the Working Families Party expecting that number to double or triple in next year’s races.
The push follows a sharp backlash against AI-linked developments: residents delayed or canceled $130 billion of projects in the first three months of 2026, and 70% of Americans oppose datacenters near their homes.
Monterey Park organizer Steven Kung is running for city council after helping win the first US citywide datacenter ban, while Arizona activist Jackie McGuire already captured a Marana town council seat after opposing a 600-acre project.
The issue is also reshaping state politics: Oregon’s Myrna Muñoz unseated an incumbent in a July primary after campaigning against facilities, and now backs a three-year statewide moratorium on new datacenters.
Recruits are concentrated in datacenter-heavy states including Michigan, Texas and Indiana, turning local fights over water, power costs, farmland and transparency into a broader midterm organizing issue.