Data centers have turned into a hot political issue that both parties now fear, and it is bad news for AI companies trying to build fast.

• A leaked Senate Republican memo warns that anger over data centers could cost the party a key Ohio Senate seat.
• Internal polling shows data centers are less welcome in a neighborhood than a nuclear plant, with no real split between Republicans, Democrats, and independents.
• Pennsylvania's Josh Shapiro just signed an order blocking new AI data centers unless they meet strict rules and win local approval, a sharp reversal from his cheerleading of a $20 billion Amazon project a year ago.
• Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is attacking Governor Abbott over the same issue, saying Abbott took millions from the industry and refused to pause new builds.
• The complaints are practical: constant jet-engine noise, drained water supplies, and rising electric bills — plus the risk that towns betting everything on data center tax money get wrecked if the AI boom turns out to be a bubble.

Outlook: Expect more state and local restrictions, a bigger tech industry ad push to win people over, and data centers becoming a standard campaign attack line heading into the next election.