A Revealing Issue Connected the Democrats’ Most Surprising Midterm Wins

The Industry The Techlash Has Finally Arrived The midterms have made it clear: Americans are really sick of Big Tech. By Enter your email to receive alerts for this author. Sign in or create an account to better manage your email preferences. Unsubscribe from email alerts Are you sure you want to unsubscribe from email alerts for Nitish Pahwa? Nov 10, 20261:25 PM Photo illustration by Slate. Images via MaxKolmeto/iStock/Getty Images Plus and Designer_things/iStock/Getty Images Plus. Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. The first Democratic Texan to claim a U.S. Senate seat in nearly 40 years won in part by running up astonishing numbers in Elon Musk’s “Starbase” company town. In Michigan, where Flock camera opponents won crucial races for Congress, residents also overwhelmingly voted to ban electric companies from making political donations after the companies partnered with Big Tech firms to power data centers. Mississippi’s first Black senator-elect since Reconstruction called for a pause on new data center construction in the last stretch of his campaign, joining other successful Southern Democrats in linking the imposing, controversial facilities to the rising costs of power bills. In his triumphant reelection speech, Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff called for bringing “Big Tech to heel” as his fellow Democrats gained a majority on the state’s utility regulation board (thus granting them oversight over new data center connections, as well as the ensuing electricity costs), and Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms beat a former data center executive. Two state lawmakers from California and Colorado won their bids for Congress by touting their legislative work pushing for artificial intelligence regulations. Among the many takeaways from the Democratic Party’s historic midterms sweep Tuesday night: The techlash is real. The hundreds of millions of dollars that Musk and his fellow “broligarchs” splashed upon these races—whether on behalf of the crypto sector or the A.I. industry—largely did not shift the American political landscape further in their direction. Americans made it plain that they’re tired of unelected Big Tech executives forcing their products into their communities and everyday lives, in alignment with an autocratic president who’s helped boost their oversize fortunes (bits of which were erased during last week’s tech-stock crash). Now the people on the receiving end of this thumping sound quite worried: As with the immigration crackdowns and the Iran war, much of the opprobrium over the A.I. buildout is a reaction to the sheer pace and scale of the action. Trump-allied techies primarily embraced an “accelerationist” approach to artificial intelligence: Their companies poured millions into building data centers across the country, while the Trump administration tried to override state regulations that stood in the way. American rage over this sudden, widespread overreach transcended partisan and ideological lines; hints as to how the midterms would go were on display in local-level elections throughout the year, as pro–data center officials at all levels overwhelmingly lost their seats. Last Tuesday, voters across the country approved dozens of ballot initiatives calling for moratoria, reduced tax credits, or outright bans on data center projects. Ohio alone had 18 such measures on the ballot—and all of them passed. (Perhaps not coincidentally, the Buckeye State also elected a Democratic governor instead of going for GOP candidate and former biotech billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy, who pitched himself as a potential “CEO of the state.”) You can even trace the bluing of Texas by mapping out its data centers; Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa has already promised to sign a pause on new data center construction. But it wasn’t just a rout for A.I. It was an all-around backlash to Big Tech’s political strategies, in almost all realms. Voters similarly approved ballot initiatives to remove Flock cameras and other automatic license plate readers from their communities. Republicans who made frequent use of A.I.-generated ads, like New York gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, frequently failed to reach victory. (Blakeman, who lost to incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul by a 20-point margin, had also promised to roll back Hochul’s one-year data center pause if he won.) Donavan McKinney, a democratic socialist who successfully primaried Michigan Rep. Shri Thanedar, won in part by calling out his opponent’s donations from the crypto industry. That’s not to say Big Tech lost everywhere. Independent Nebraska Senate candidate Dan Osborn came up short in his bid after tech-industry PACs spent nearly $13.5 million against him. Google co-founder Sergey Brin’s well-funded campaign to turn Californian voters against a billionaire-tax proposition paid off for him quite well; other business-friendly Golden State candidates beat progressives down the ballot thanks to hefty monetary support from Silicon Valley. Ironically, the blue state that Elon Musk fled in order to set up shop in deep-red Texas voted in a far more tech-friendly manner than his new home state. Still, the mandate for Democrats is pretty unmistakable: Americans do not love how Donald Trump and his favorite tech CEOs are planning out the future of A.I., and they’re widely interested in accountability for misbehaving broligarchs, as well as small-d democratic input over just where tech companies are permitted to expand their footprints. Yet figuring out next steps will not be easy. There’s already brewing disagreement among Democrats over whether to lend support to a pending bill that would ease the construction of data centers on public lands and fast-track the approval process for the polluting energy sources that currently power so many hyperscale facilities. Caucus leaders are already attempting to tone down any talk of “retribution” as other lawmakers immediately call for investigations into Big Tech firms and subpoenas of A.I. CEOs. Trump’s continued presence in the White House will mean that most congressional bills attacking his favorite industry will be vetoed upon arrival. That leaves room for plenty of local action, but even more legislative fights at that level are set to erupt sooner than later, whether over noisy Amazon delivery drones or self-driving cars or gig-worker arrangements or the economic risks of an A.I. bubble burst. The electoral victories over Big Tech were no walk in the park, and new measures to tackle their power may be even harder to implement. But Democrats and their tech-skeptical voters have a big advantage right now: Tech CEOs are, for once, on the back foot, scrambling to figure out their response to this shellacking and acknowledging that their PR strategies thus far have not worked. There’s never been a better time to go on an all-out offense than now, a moment when the American people have never been more in favor of curbing Big Tech’s power. Artificial Intelligence Elections Silicon Valley Elon Musk 2026 Midterms