Data centers are becoming a hot topic in the midterms, with millions of dollars already being spent on broadcast ads at the local and national level—and millions more expected to come.
So far, candidates, advocacy organizations, and industry groups have forked out roughly $9.4 million on broadcast ads that mention data centers during the 2026 midterm cycle, according to an AdImpact analysis by National Journal. Some of the larger spends have come from tech giants such as Meta—the parent company of Facebook—or from dark-money groups looking to dabble in statewide races.
The emergence in data-center messaging compared to the 2024 election cycle, when the issue was rarely mentioned, signals how these project buildouts and artificial intelligence in general have become key political issues. In some ads, the issue is incidental to a candidate’s larger point. In others, data centers play a starring role.
A number of industry-backed groups, for example, are taking to the airwaves to tout the benefits of these centers as companies increasingly look to replace white-collar positions with AI and as data centers face blame for rising utility costs, environmental pollution, and massive water use. Their backers contend in the ads that data centers are poised to stir new life into a stagnant economy with job growth and new opportunities for revenue, while lowering energy costs.
The ad splurge comes as Meta looks to spend $65 million this year—its biggest political investment to date—on local politicians who look to back the AI industry.
“We welcomed Meta, which opened a data center in our town,” a narrator says in one of the company’s national ads, which started running in November and last aired at the end of December. “Now, we’re bringing jobs here—for us, and for our next generation.”
Meta spent more than $3.2 million for the spot, which ran in major cities across the country for more than a month.
That’s not the only positive recent ad about data centers. Virginia Connects, a trade association representing technology stakeholders such as Amazon Web Services and Cloud HQ, ran a similar ad touting the facilities being built across the state. The Old Dominion State has the highest number of data centers in the country, earning Northern Virginia the moniker of “Data Center Alley.”
“To hospitals, to businesses, Virginia's data centers are unlocking a smarter power grid for our communities,” the ad says. “They're investing billions in clean energy, creating good-paying jobs, driving innovation, and building a better energy future.”
Negative ads are currently floating in the airspace as well.
A dark-money group dubbed “Georgians for Integrity” has been airing spots against Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who’s running in the Republican primary for governor. The ads ding the Republican for supporting a $10 billion data-center project to be built on land owned by his family. While the ad doesn’t weigh in on the merits of the proposed data center, the project has drawn criticism for its potential environmental impact. According to a two-page filing, the facility is expected to go through more than 4.5 million gallons of water per day—tripling the current usage for one county—while also potentially generating nearly $92 million per year in annual tax revenues.
The ad buys, which collectively cost nearly $5.9 million, have been running throughout Georgia since last December.
The ads come as the messaging on data centers has largely been split. Lawmakers from both parties have touted economic and national security benefits from the vast buildout of the projects. The promise of job growth and stronger competition with China in the AI space have driven both the Biden and Trump administrations to fast-track construction of the facilities.
But environmental advocates and community organizers who live near already-built data centers have raised flags about the burden brought on by the technological behemoths: further stress on the already strained power grid, large water consumption, the threat of pollution from maintaining the projects, and energy companies passing down the costs of buildout to consumers.
Lawmakers have been raising concerns about utility costs. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal introduced a measure that would look to clamp down on consumer utility price increases linked to data centers, with the aim of prioritizing customers on the grid.
“Their water bills are already too high,” Hawley told reporters ahead of the bill’s release. “They don't want some corporation coming in and sucking up all the electricity on the grids as their rates doubled.”
The bill, which is one of the first pieces of bipartisan legislation looking to rein in data centers, would also require them to use energy from power sources separate from the grid, with a 10-year off-ramp for existing data centers to find an alternative power source.
Data centers and artificial intelligence are also set to be a huge issue in the 2028 election. Members of both parties have been divided on the subject, with some eager to tout the benefits of the new technology, while others, such as Hawley and Blumenthal, look to rein in the fast-developing industry.
