Data centers emerge as a high-stakes issue in midterm elections
Hudson Institute senior fellow Alexandra Seymour analyzes how data center expansion is influencing local midterm election races. A July 2026 Fox News poll reveals that 70 percent of registered voters oppose building these massive AI facilities nearby.
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A founder of the Tea Party movement is heading a new nationwide campaign against AI data center expansion, arguing that tech corporations are encroaching on local communities and forcing residents to pay for the infrastructure against their will.
Amy Kremer, chairwoman of Humans First, said the nationwide bus tour, dubbed the “Data Center Revolt,” will launch Sept. 12 in Austin, Texas, which she called the “battleground of the data center opposition movement.” The tour will travel across the South and up the East Coast, stopping in Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia before concluding in California’s Silicon Valley.
Kremer, a veteran conservative organizer and Georgia Republican Party leader, told Fox News Digital she sees parallels between the anti-data center push and the early days of the Tea Party movement.
“The reason we’re doing this tour is because we have seen over the past couple of years that Big Tech is trying to shove their technology, their AI technology, down our throats,” Kremer told Fox News Digital. “The American people are very upset over the technology and the buildout. And so that’s why we’re doing this tour, to give people a voice, to stand with them and support them as they battle this in their local communities. And that’s exactly what we did with the Tea Party movement.”
SILICON VALLEY IS LOSING THE DATA CENTER FIGHT, RISKING A REPEAT OF A CLASSIC FAILURE
Protestors hold up ‘Stop data centers’ signs, on the day of U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech at the General Motors Proving Ground, in Milford, Michigan, U.S. July 27, 2026. (Carlos Osorio/Reuters)
The organization says it represents a grassroots network of residents concerned about the rapid pace of AI infrastructure development. Kremer cited Festus, Missouri, where voters unseated four city council incumbents in April after officials voted to advance a proposed $6 billion data center project.
“The people don’t have a seat at the table, they don’t have a voice in what is being built in their community,” she added.
Humans First is not seeking a federal moratorium and opposes blanket state or national bans on data centers, Kremer said. Instead, the group is advocating for local transparency and community representation.
“Communities should have a voice in decisions that affect their electricity rates, water, land and quality of life. We should end secretive NDAs and corporate welfare and make sure ordinary Americans aren’t forced to subsidize some of the wealthiest corporations in the world,” Kremer told Fox News Digital. “Limited government doesn’t mean unaccountable corporate power.”
Launched this year, Humans First has faced sustained scrutiny over its origins and funding, with critics questioning whether a hidden left-wing network is powering a conservative rebellion against a major policy priority.
FROM NEW YORK TO TEXAS, STATES SHOULD RESPECT LOCAL CONTROL ON DATA CENTERS
Protesters react as the Box Elder County Commission approves a large AI data center project in Tremonton, Utah, on May 4, 2026. Activists opposed the proposed 40,000-acre development over concerns about water use, energy demand and environmental impact. (Natalie Behring/Getty Images)
An investigative report published in March by The Dossier’s Jordan Schachtel cited California public records showing Humans First was incorporated by Oliver Zhang and Arunim Agarwal in January, while both were staff members at the Center for AI Safety (CAIS). CAIS is a San Francisco-based nonprofit that has received millions in funding from Open Philanthropy, an organization founded by Facebook co-founder and Democratic Party mega-donor Dustin Moskovitz.
The report alleged that Humans First presented itself as a grassroots bipartisan movement, but was actually “constructed by the Effective Altruist (EA) left and disguised as something liberty-loving Americans could believe in” to advance a progressive agenda.
Additionally, a Fox News Digital investigation in July found that several of the local organizers behind a mass protest organized by Human First on July 18 had left-wing, Green Party or Democratic-aligned backgrounds, including a transgender Green Party House candidate, local progressive activists and a Democratic state legislative candidate. The Humans First website said that organizers promoting the event had not necessarily been vetted or endorsed by their group.
Protest footage obtained by Fox News Digital at the Humans First event in Gilroy, California, had signs protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement — a common antagonist for those on the left.
When Kremer assumed leadership in April, the organization announced it was shifting from a bipartisan organization toward conservative activism. Kremer acknowledged the group’s beginnings but said it was independent of CAIS and defended its conservative credentials.
FOX NEWS POLL: COOL YOUR SERVERS! VOTERS REJECT DATA CENTERS
Sen Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., hold a press conference to announce the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act at the US Capitol on March 25, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
“Humans First today is an independent conservative organization with its own leadership, strategy and agenda,” Kremer told Fox News Digital. “Our positions are determined by our team and our mission, not by CAIS or the individuals involved in the organization’s original formation.”
Regarding funding, Kremer said Humans First received an initial startup loan from CAIS that is being repaid. She added that the group does not disclose individual donors and does not receive money from Open Philanthropy.
“We will not accept funding that compromises our independence, dictates our policy positions, advances a foreign influence operation, or conflicts with our America First mission,” Kremer said.
Kremer has noted that most of their staff members are longtime conservative activists, and she balked at those questioning the group’s conservative credentials.
“This line of attack is preposterous but not surprising,” Kremer told Fox News Digital in July.
“This is exactly the same line of attack we saw during the early days of the Tea Party. The establishment and their handmaidens in the media were willing to smear Tea Party activists as racists and bigots in their effort to defend the big interests of their corporate masters,” Kremer continued.
“Instead of questioning our conservative credentials, how about asking how any so-called conservative can take money from the same big tech and big AI billionaires who have worked tirelessly to destroy the conservative movement over the last 10 years,” she said.
MARXIST ORGANIZER LEADS CAMPAIGN AGAINST VIRGINIA AI DATA CENTER AS FOREIGN INFLUENCE CONCERNS MOUNT
US President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up before boarding Air Force One en route back to Washington, DC, at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in Cleveland, Ohio on August 11, 2026. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
The debate occurs alongside broader policy efforts surrounding AI development. Roughly one year ago, the White House released an AI action plan, outlining over 90 federal actions aimed at accelerating data center construction, streamlining permitting, and securing American technological leadership over foreign rivals like China.
Kremer supports President Donald Trump’s mission of ensuring American tech companies dominate over China, but she argued that U.S. data centers remain reliant on components like Chinese lithium batteries. She also cited a July report from The Financial Times detailing how OpenAI and Google supplied AI model access to Singapore subsidiaries of Chinese tech firms listed on the Pentagon’s military blacklist. The sales are legal, according to the FT report, but the news has “reignited calls for tighter US regulation of AI models similar to its restrictions on exports of the chips used to train powerful models.”
“Pick a lane. You cannot be America first and China funded,” Kremer said. “And that’s what’s going on here … and it’s all on the backs of the American people.”
Kremer also argued that county boards are giving tax breaks to wealthy tech corporations while residents are paying for the infrastructure and utility spikes.
In March 2026, the White House addressed growing public concerns over infrastructure burdens by introducing a “Ratepayer Protection Pledge.” The voluntary commitment asks AI companies, utilities and data-center developers, to shoulder the costs of electricity generation and infrastructure, so expenses are not passed on to local residents or businesses.
In July, the White House announced it had brought “more than 200 additional utilities, data center developers, cooperatives, and states into this growing national commitment.”
KEVIN O’LEARY WARNS CHINA IS WINNING THE AI RACE BECAUSE U.S. STATES ARE SLOWING DATA CENTER PRODUCTION
Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump visited the Temple of Heaven on May 14, 2026, in Beijing, China, during a high-level summit between the two leaders. Xi warned that mishandling the issue of Taiwan could push the United States and China toward “conflict.” (Brendan Smialowski – Pool/Getty Images)
A White House official told Fox News Digital, “President Trump is cementing American AI dominance over China while ensuring data centers pay for their own power, water, and other utilities. The President’s commonsense approach will beat China, harness this technological boom, and deliver lower costs and new opportunities for working families and small businesses.”
Kremer argued that technological advancements, national security and local community protections can co-exist.
“America absolutely must lead China in AI and advanced technology,” Kremer agreed. “But we reject the idea that beating China requires giving Big Tech a blank check or asking American communities to surrender their rights and resources. We can lead the world in AI while protecting American families, communities, taxpayers and national security. Those goals are not mutually exclusive.”
Ultimately, Kremer is calling on lawmakers to establish stricter guidelines on Big Tech to protect consumers.
“People want Congress to act. They need to put safety mechanisms in place,” she said. “The American people are demanding accountability and they’re demanding answers.”
“I think they would be foolish to ignore this movement,” she added. “And I think they need to get their heads out of the sand and start governing and do their job.”
Recent reports have also pointed to foreign influence involved in the anti-data center push.
A May report by the Bitcoin Policy Institute alleged that nonprofits funded by pro-CCP tech tycoon Neville Roy Singham — including CodePink — have spent years fueling opposition to U.S. AI infrastructure and data center expansion in coordination with Chinese propaganda narratives and foreign-funded activist networks.
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Jodie Evans, founder of CodePink, is married to communist tech tycoon Neville Roy Singham. (Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for V-Day)
Sam Lyman, head of research at the Bitcoin Policy Institute and a former senior speechwriter for Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, previously told Fox News Digital, “Ensuring that AI is safe and empowers American workers must be a top priority for US policymakers. But the discussion about AI safety should not be influenced by geopolitical rivals, especially China, whose leaders have publicly stated their intentions to accelerate AI development to ‘gain the initiative in global science and technology competition.’”
The Center for AI Safety did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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Fox News’ Asra Q. Nomani and Robert Schmad contributed to this report.
