Data centers are now a midterm issue, even in Brooklyn
At a Brooklyn midterm party five days before Election Day, every conversation, from a council member’s fireside chat to a debate about the Democratic Party, kept circling back to AI and data centers.
Key points
- A Brooklyn midterm event hosted by Newsreel found AI and data centers dominating nearly every conversation.
- Data Center Watch reported almost $200 billion in data center projects delayed, stalled or blocked in the first half of 2026.
- States including Pennsylvania, Georgia, Texas, New York and Virginia are considering more guardrails and transparency around data centers.
A midterm election event in a Brooklyn warehouse on Thursday evening turned into a discussion about AI and data centers, according to TechCrunch reporter Dominic-Madori Davis. The event was hosted by Newsreel, a media company founded by former Forbes and Newsweek reporter Jack Brewster, and drew media types, techies and policy advocates.
Davis, who moderated a panel on data centers, wrote that the topic consumed nearly every conversation. She reported that data centers and AI have become a ballot-box issue that could sway some midterm races on November 3.
Projects delayed and blocked
A recent report from Data Center Watch found that almost $200 billion in data center projects were delayed, stalled or blocked in the first half of 2026 due to political and community opposition. Davis reported that Pennsylvania, Georgia, Texas, New York and Virginia are considering more guardrails and transparency around data centers' rapid development, and that hundreds of new data centers are planned in Virginia alone.
AI has become an election issue for regular voters
— Jack Brewster
What speakers said
New York City Council member Chi Ossé said he does not really use AI and emphasized that he would like tech executives held more accountable. He said CEOs talking about a technology that could deplete 10% of human civilization "should be called to testify in front of Congress."
Environmental and public health advocate Hilary Flint, speaking on Davis's panel, said people "value their lives a little bit more than a temporary check." Brewster said AI "has become an election issue for regular voters," adding that in Brooklyn the backlash is more about who gets rich from it.
