57% of Texans Oppose Data Centers, Reshaping 2026 Governor and Senate Races
Updated
Updated · The Verge · Oct 28
57% of Texans Oppose Data Centers, Reshaping 2026 Governor and Senate Races
3 articles · Updated · The Verge · Oct 28
Summary
57% of Texans oppose new data centers, with resistance spreading across party lines and turning the industry into a defining issue in Texas’s 2026 midterm campaigns.
1 million voters may be represented by the We the People Texas coalition, which links NAACP activists, rural conservatives and others around complaints over water use, tax breaks and rising power costs.
Texas data centers used about 25 billion gallons of water last year, while electricity bills have climbed 35.4% in five years and the state now faces an estimated $3.2 billion sales-tax hit over two years.
Greg Abbott has shifted from promoting Texas as an AI hub to backing permit moratoriums, tighter utility rules and possible repeal of data-center tax breaks, but opponents say projects and permit processing still continue.
The backlash is scrambling both parties: Democrat Gina Hinojosa has gained ground with a tougher anti-data-center stance, while Republicans risk losses in rural areas that once formed their electoral base.