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Data centers lost in the midterms

November 6, 2026 · 14 min

Show notes

Voters have made their dissatisfaction quite clear with the tech status quo. And it sounds like the Democrats gearing up to take power in the House and Senate might actually do something about that.


Plus, Big Tech spent big on races in this election, but didn't get a whole lot of bang for their buck. But first, a tech issue that was actually on the ballot: data centers. More than 40 jurisdictions across 10 states voted to put them on ice. However, Harwood, North Dakota, gave them the green light. Paresh Dave, senior writer at Wired, joins Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino to explain more about all this on this week’s “Tech Bytes: Week in Review.”


More on this:


“America got the anti-data-center wave it voted for. Here come the economic consequences” from CNN


“After Midterm Rebuke, OpenAI Pledges to Give Data Center Towns More Say” from The New York Times


“AI & Tech Brief: Midterms turn the AI tide” from The Washington Post


“Democratic midterm wins set stage for tougher tech and AI scrutiny” from IAPP


“Elon Musk suffers major blow in US midterms” from Politico


“Ohio’s Senate Race Is a Rare Loss for Crypto Under Trump” from The New York Times


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