Big Tech Lost ground in the 2026 midterms as candidates turned artificial intelligence and data centers into campaign issues. Voters encountered the technology through local construction fights, concerns about children and arguments over who should regulate AI.
The result was a new political opening for candidates who connected those worries to daily life. The link between leadership and public trust also appears in coverage of CEOs making safety culture central. In the account of the midterm fight, POLITICO describes how a debate once concentrated among technology specialists moved into campaigns across the country.
Big Tech Lost Its Hold on the Campaign Debate
Democratic candidates and allied groups increasingly treated AI as a subject voters could connect to costs, jobs and community control. Michigan candidate Mallory McMorrow brought together concerns about data centers, worker retraining, child safety and potential catastrophic risks under a broader “People Over AI” banner.
Her approach grew from conversations across the state. McMorrow said she had stopped at breweries for more than a year to answer questions. At one event in Elk Rapids, a pastor raised the technology without prompting, which she said showed the issue could reach beyond the usual policy circles.
Data centers offered a visible entry point. Candidate Will Lawrence attended a crowded local meeting about a proposed site in Howell Township shortly after launching his campaign against first-term Republican Rep. Tom Barrett. Proposals also emerged in Mason, Lyon and Lansing. Lawrence later centered a campaign advertisement on an empty field that he described as a potential data center site.
Campaign Spending Followed Voter Attention
Political advertising reflected the change. Reset Tech analysis cited by POLITICO counted six ads using “big tech” or attacking the industry between 2020 and 2024, compared with 387 in this cycle. Candidates spent $103.6 million on those ads. Democratic ads mentioned data centers zero times between 2020 and 2024; the count was 659 in 2025 and 2026.
Groups on both sides organized around the issue. Guardrails Action launched in June with $5 million raised, while Tomorrow Together announced it had over $10 million in September. The article says donor identities are difficult to determine because organizations used nonprofit structures that can later funnel money into political committees.
Safety-aligned groups spent $44.4 million, compared with $27.9 million from the pro-innovation side, according to the article’s calculation. The figures exclude some political giving and educational spending. The scale of the debate echoes other coverage of how technology leaders describe AI and the capital demands tied to AI growth.
AI and Data Centers Reached the Ballot
On Tuesday, AI safety advocates celebrated wins by candidates including Rutinel and Wiener. All four House districts where Tomorrow Together spent flipped from Republican to Democrat, including Lawrence’s narrow Michigan victory. The group also spent in Ohio and Kansas Senate races, where Democrats won. Guardrails Alliance won all five races in which it spent.
The outcome was not uniform. Leading the Future-backed candidates also won races, including Republican Scott Singer’s contest against Democrat Jared Moskowitz in Florida’s 25th House district. The group’s preferred candidates lost in South Carolina and in the Kansas governor’s race, where Republican Ty Masterson appeared set to lose.
NBC exit pollsters found 56% of respondents called AI and data centers a crucial or major factor in their vote. Government corruption ranked higher, at 90%. The poll result shows the technology had become a meaningful campaign subject, although it did not outrank voters’ leading concerns.
The next test is whether a broad electoral coalition can agree on policy. The article describes disagreements over catastrophic risk, chatbot harms, data center construction and federal safeguards. Democratic strategist Bharwani called for action on surveillance pricing, online scams, electricity costs and children’s safety. As lawmakers and prospective 2028 candidates take up those questions, the groups that built campaigns around AI will face pressure to decide which concerns belong in their shared agenda.