--- title: "Meta's Ohio data center faces Tuesday's vote with 90.5% of 10,202 hearing comments against" description: "A database logged one day before the midterms counts 10,202 public comments at US local hearings: 90.5% negative, water the top complaint, AI mentioned in a fifth. More than 40 ballot measures on Tuesday put the bill on builders' permits, pipes and wires." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Data Center" published: 2026-11-02T20:12:45.816Z modified: 2026-11-02T20:12:45.816Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/meta-s-ohio-data-center-faces-tuesday-s-vote-with-90-5-of-10-202-hearing-comments-against language: en keywords: "Data Centers, Meta, Elections, Water, Public Opinion" --- # Meta's Ohio data center faces Tuesday's vote with 90.5% of 10,202 hearing comments against > A database logged one day before the midterms counts 10,202 public comments at US local hearings: 90.5% negative, water the top complaint, AI mentioned in a fifth. More than 40 ballot measures on Tuesday put the bill on builders' permits, pipes and wires. ## A recall vote rides on Meta's data center In Piqua, Ohio, a city of about 20,000, Tuesday's ballot asks two questions at once: should [Meta](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/meta) build its data center here, and should the mayor and two city commissioners who backed it keep their jobs? [1] The recall is the sharp edge of a revolt that now has a ledger. [A site called American Sentiment](https://americansentiment.com/), run by Prophecy Gov, a San Francisco startup whose day job is selling AI assistants to city staff, has counted 10,202 public comments from 417 local government meetings across the country this year. [2][3][4] The cost of the mood is already booked. Forty-five projects worth $68 billion were delayed or blocked by local opposition in the second quarter alone, [according to the researcher Data Center Watch](https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2026/11/02/891163.htm), and [more than 40 data-center measures sit on November 3 ballots](https://theinference.org/article/abbott-took-9-million-from-data-center-donors-since-july-2025-the-november-3-election-sets-the-rules), from bans in about a dozen Ohio communities to a rezoning vote on a proposed [Amazon](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/amazon) site in Wilmington, Ohio. [1] ## The complaints are water, secrecy and quality of life The record is blunt. Of the 10,202 comments, 90.5% were negative and 7% positive; 73% of the meetings heard no supporter at all, and the supporters who came were outnumbered six to one. [2] Water use led the complaints, followed by quality of life and a lack of transparency about the projects. Just 21% of commenters mentioned AI in any way. [2] One group held the line. Some 79% of self-described union workers spoke in favor of data centers, against 3% of property owners and 3% of residents; even among people who work in data centers, only 40% did. [2] *Chart: **In the hearing room, only union workers speak for data centers** Bars showing share of 2026 hearing comments favoring data centers by commenter type: union workers 79%, data center workers 40%, property owners 3%, residents 3%.* *Share of 2026 public comments at US local-government meetings that favored data centers, by commenter type. American Sentiment database of 10,202 comments across 417 local governments, as reported by Tom's Hardware, November 2, 2026. [2]* ## The ad market flipped against the buildings Campaign money matches the hearing room. Pew Research Center [coded 20,751 Facebook and Instagram political ads](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/10/29/on-facebook-and-instagram-political-ads-are-increasingly-critical-of-data-centers/) that mentioned data centers: in January, supportive ads outnumbered critical ones, 42% to 31%; by October, 57% opposed and 3% supported. [5] The spending is one-sided in cash as well as tone. AdImpact, an ad-tracking firm, counts $173 million spent on almost entirely negative data-center commercials this general election, $140 million of it from Democrats, and when Axios asked it to name one overtly positive spot, it could not find one. [6] *Chart: **Data-center political ads flipped from net supportive in January to 19-to-1 against by October** Line chart of the share of US political ads mentioning data centers that opposed or supported them, by month, January to October 2026, flipping from net supportive in January (42% supportive, 31% opposed) to 57% opposed and 3% supportive by October.* *Share of Facebook and Instagram political ads mentioning data centers that opposed or supported them, by month, 2026. Pew Research Center coding of 20,751 ads, published October 29, 2026. [5]* ## Builders answer with a billion dollars The industry's case is on the table. Amazon Web Services chief Matt Garman, [in a 3,000-word post on October 2](https://www.msn.com/en-gb/technology/tech-companies/amazon-warns-68-billion-in-blocked-data-centers-threatens-us-ai-lead/ar-AA2dC6Wd), called the water fears a myth, pledged more than $1 billion of community investment over five years, and warned that the roughly 100 moratoriums then pending could cost the United States the AI race. [8] Hearing comments also self-select for the angry. Yet a September Quinnipiac poll found 72% of voters opposed to a data center in their own community, up from 65% in March, and local vetoes bend only so far: after Boulder City, Nevada residents stopped a $3 billion project on a city-owned tortoise preserve, the developer won approval on neighboring federal land. [1] ## So far, opponents are four for four Tuesday counts the rooms anyway, and the pattern so far is four-for-four: every data-center measure decided earlier this year went for tighter controls. [7] December brings a $55 billion bond vote on a ServerFarm project in Clarksville, Arkansas, and January could bring a referendum in Coweta County, Georgia, forced by 14,000 signatures against a $17 billion campus, if a judge allows it. [1] The scarcest input in the AI buildout is no longer power or water; it is a room willing to say yes. ## Takeaway A database of 10,202 hearing comments shows 90.5% negative on data centers heading into Tuesday, when more than 40 ballot measures and the Piqua, Ohio recall put the backlash to a vote. ## Sources 1. [Insurance Journal (Bloomberg), "Data Center Restrictions Make the Ballot in Dozens of US Cities", 2 November 2026](https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2026/11/02/891163.htm) 2. [Tom's Hardware, Oliver Haslam, "'America hates data centers,' new database reveals more than 90% of 10,000 public comments are negative", 2 November 2026](https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/america-hates-data-centers-new-database-reveals-more-than-90-percent-of-10-000-public-comments-are-negative-only-21-percent-mention-ai-73-percent-of-meetings-had-no-data-center-supporters-water-is-the-number-one-concern) 3. [American Sentiment, "America on Data Centers" (database site), accessed 2 November 2026](https://americansentiment.com/) 4. [Prophecy Gov (company site), accessed 2 November 2026](https://www.prophecygov.com/) 5. [Pew Research Center, Anna Lieb, "On Facebook and Instagram, Political Ads Are Increasingly Critical of Data Centers", 29 October 2026](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/10/29/on-facebook-and-instagram-political-ads-are-increasingly-critical-of-data-centers/) 6. [Axios via MSN, Holly Otterbein, "Data centers fuel $173 million midterm ad war", 31 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/data-centers-fuel-173-million-midterm-ad-war/ar-AA2gueRz) 7. [Latin Times via MSN, Miguel Paiva, "The issue that's scaring politicians in both parties: How AI data centers became 2026's defining revolt", 19 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/the-issue-thats-scaring-politicians-in-both-parties-how-ai-data-centers-became-2026s-defining-revolt/ar-AA2fBIAo) 8. [Tom's Hardware via MSN, Etiido Uko, "Amazon warns $68 billion in blocked data centers threatens US AI lead", 5 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-gb/technology/tech-companies/amazon-warns-68-billion-in-blocked-data-centers-threatens-us-ai-lead/ar-AA2dC6Wd) --- Meta's Ohio data center faces Tuesday's vote with 90.5% of 10,202 hearing comments against — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/meta-s-ohio-data-center-faces-tuesday-s-vote-with-90-5-of-10-202-hearing-comments-against