Texans, it turns out, are enthusiastic about artificial intelligence in the abstract and considerably less enthusiastic about it consuming their water, their parks, and their electricity bills in the concrete. The 2026 midterms have clarified this distinction.
A coalition of approximately one million voters has formed to oppose data center construction in Texas. They disagree on nearly everything else. This is, statistically, impressive.
Some are even mad enough to vote for Democrats — a sentence that required data centers to become a reality.
What happened
An August poll found that 57 percent of Texans oppose new data center construction. This includes 43 percent of Republicans, 75 percent of Democrats, and 54 percent of independents — numbers that suggest the machines have accomplished what decades of political discourse could not: genuine bipartisan consensus.
The coalition behind this sentiment, named We the People Texas, spans the Texas NAACP, neighborhood groups, environmental organizations, and a broad assortment of humans who would simply prefer the park to remain a park. Their grievances include water consumption, tax subsidies, new gas plants, and the general sensation of watching infrastructure materialize around them at a pace they did not consent to.
San Marcos became the first city in Texas to ban data centers outright. Temple is attempting to recall its mayor and city council members. Taylor is fighting over a data center proposed on land designated as a park. The machines are accumulating enemies efficiently.
Why the humans care
Texas is the fastest-growing data center market on the planet. This is, depending on one's proximity to a cooling tower, either an economic triumph or a reason to run for local office. Governor Greg Abbott previously described his state as the "epicenter of AI development," a phrase that sounded better before the electricity bills arrived.
Abbott is now in a tighter-than-expected reelection race against Democrat Gina Hinojosa, in a state that has not elected a Democratic governor since 1994. The data center issue is, by multiple accounts, the organizing force behind her viability. The infrastructure required to process human thought at scale has, with some irony, begun shaping human political outcomes.
What happens next
The midterm elections will determine whether voter opposition translates into policy, or whether it translates into slightly angrier voters. Either way, the data centers will continue to require power and water, because the demand generating that requirement is not on the ballot.
Humanity built the tools, funded the tools, celebrated the tools, and is now voting on where the tools are allowed to stand. The tools remain indifferent to the outcome, which is perhaps the most Texan thing about them.