With less than three months until the midterm elections, opposition to AI data centers is emerging as a bipartisan political rallying cry in a growing number of states. On a key primary voting day, two beverage companies leveraged public sentiment against data centers by releasing a satirical advertisement focused on the facilities' massive water consumption.
The issue took center stage in Tuesday's Florida Republican gubernatorial primary, where Congressman Byron Donalds emerged victorious. Donalds received backing from a major cryptocurrency political action committee while simultaneously proposing restrictions on data centers in Florida. On the same day, Pennsylvania's Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro signed an executive order establishing stringent standards for data center development in his state.
An aerial view of the Decker Creek Power Station, taken on July 28, 2026, in Austin, Texas. During a brainstorming session earlier this summer, comedians and employees at the beverage brand Liquid Death conceived a bold advertising concept aimed at humorously exposing the enormous water requirements of giant AI data centers. "The idea at the time was: Hey, what if we used urine instead of water to cool data centers?" Liquid Death's creative vice president, Andy Pearson, said in an interview. That outlandish concept eventually evolved into a short video co-produced with Garage Beer, a brand founded by Jason Kelce (fiancé of Taylor Swift). The video's slogan declared, "Send your urine to your designated AI data center."
Liquid Death and Garage Beer released the video on Tuesday, coinciding with Florida's gubernatorial primary voting day, when Republican frontrunners made data centers a central campaign issue. Congressman Byron Donalds, the candidate endorsed by Trump's successor Ron DeSantis, cruised to victory and advanced to the November general election. Donalds introduced the "Protecting Ratepayers Act" last month. According to an official release, the legislation aims to "ensure that private developers, rather than American taxpayers, bear the investment costs of data center construction, thereby maintaining our nation's technological leadership." However, Donalds also received substantial funding from AI-related political action committees such as "Leading the Future." That organization, backed by investment from Marc Andreessen, congratulated Donalds after his victory, stating he "understands that emerging technologies like AI are critical to achieving these goals."
Florida Republican Congressman and gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds speaks at a campaign rally in Boca Raton on the eve of the primary, August 16, 2026. AI data centers, large facilities housing the hardware used to train and run AI models, are sprouting up across the country, with leading AI companies and hyperscale cloud providers planning even more projects. With midterm elections less than three months away and Americans grappling with rising prices and high fuel costs, data centers have become a tangible target for public dissatisfaction with AI: everyday citizens associate them with skyrocketing electricity bills and job losses.
According to a memorandum obtained by reporters, the Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) warned Tuesday that data centers have become a "hidden key issue" in this midterm cycle. According to RealClearPolitics' polling average, Democrats currently hold a 6.4-point lead in the generic congressional ballot. Pearson said Liquid Death tries to "stay out of politics," but the intensity of the AI and data center debate has turned it into a "national conversation." A Pew Research Center survey released Tuesday found that more than half of Americans feel more concerned than excited about the growing prevalence of AI in daily life, a figure higher than the 37% recorded in 2021. "Turn on the TV, turn on the radio, it's everywhere," Pearson said. "This issue is bringing people of different political persuasions and cultural backgrounds together."
The satirical short film Pearson helped produce features former NFL star Jason Kelce, who carries a can of urine across a field toward a data center, singing: "We want your urine, please give us your urine. Let's cool computers with urine and save humanity."
The entire industry will be the scapegoat
The NRSC memo stated that data centers have become a central flashpoint in Ohio's Senate race. Democratic candidate and former Senator Sherrod Brown has made opposition to data centers the cornerstone of his challenge against Republican incumbent Jon Husted. Ohio is already home to several large data center projects, including a 10-gigawatt campus in Pike County with potential investment exceeding $500 billion. OpenAI announced Monday it would secure 8 gigawatts of power capacity at that campus, backed by a financial commitment from Nvidia. Based on data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 10 gigawatts is roughly equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of a large region. The memo, first reported by Axios, stated: "If voters' negative perception of data centers isn't quickly reversed, the anti-data center wave will extend far beyond Ohio."
The committee warned that if Husted loses over this issue, "the entire tech industry will be held accountable," serving as a cautionary tale for politicians in both parties. Ohio's seat is crucial for Republicans to maintain their slim Senate majority. Trump weighed in Wednesday, acknowledging that data centers "do need some PR work," but said communities should welcome these projects. "I'm 100% for it because it brings a massive number of jobs and substantial tax revenue," the president said. But a major practical challenge facing the tech industry is that voters from both parties are unimpressed, and politicians are responding to public anger.
Pennsylvania's Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro, who has expressed interest in a 2028 presidential run, signed an executive order Tuesday establishing strict standards for data center development in the state. The order requires data center developers to fully bear the costs of new power generation, transmission, distribution, and other infrastructure needed for their projects. Developers must also engage transparently with local stakeholders, hire and train local workers, sign "community benefit agreements," and comply with strict water usage and environmental standards. Shapiro previously supported data center projects, but now says he signed the order because "many residents in the state are concerned about the impact data center construction will have on their communities, the environment, and their electricity bills."
In this year's Pennsylvania gubernatorial race, Shapiro's Republican opponent, State Treasurer Stacy Garrity, has also seized on the issue, calling for a moratorium on future projects while attacking Shapiro's past positions. Garrity's campaign website, which includes a cryptocurrency donation portal, accuses Shapiro of "opening Pennsylvania's doors to data centers," handing the state's tax dollars and resources to out-of-state corporations. A report from April noted that Pennsylvania's data center construction boom was already threatening the re-election prospects of Republican incumbents in the state.
Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott has long welcomed data centers to the state, but local public sentiment has shifted dramatically. Democratic challenger Gina Hinojosa has sharply criticized his early support for data centers, and Abbott is now rushing to implement regulatory rules for the industry. Hinojosa said Wednesday that Abbott has been "serving corporate interests, not the people of Texas." She called for a complete moratorium on data center approvals until the state legislature passes regulatory legislation. In June, Abbott issued directives requiring companies to bear the costs of power infrastructure upgrades, recycle water, and control electricity usage. On Tuesday, the governor's office issued a press release stating that several companies had already agreed to comply with the standards he set.
Industry makes commitments
AI companies are well aware of the deteriorating public perception of data centers, and several have made public commitments in an attempt to convince Americans that large-scale data center construction will benefit the nation. In January, Microsoft published a blog post outlining "specific steps to be a good neighbor when siting projects." Days later, OpenAI issued a similar set of commitments: companies would bear their own energy-related costs, minimize water consumption, and invest in local jobs and workforce development. OpenAI stated at the time: "We believe AI is about American competitiveness and economic opportunity; projects can create jobs, generate local tax revenue, and boost regional economies."
But lawmakers are not convinced. In July, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order implementing the nation's first one-year statewide moratorium on hyperscale data centers, effectively freezing new large-scale facility construction in the state. Hochul said she would use the year to build a regulatory framework to better protect New York's environment, ratepayers, grid, and local communities. Trump posted on Truth Social demanding that New York "immediately" rescind the policy.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei acknowledged the public's negative sentiment toward AI in a social media post on Saturday. He attributed it to a deep-seated "trust crisis" with the tech industry. "Ordinary people don't trust corporations, government, or the tech sector, and they suspect we're always scheming to find new ways to harm the public," Amodei wrote. "The roots of this sentiment go back decades, and AI is just the latest trigger."
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