Texas political shake-up may threaten AI data center construction

In the 2026 Texas midterm election results, Democrats won: Talarico was elected U.S. Senator, Hinojosa was elected Governor, and Democrats also won a majority in the state House of Representatives for the first time in 24 years. Data centers were one of the core issues of the campaign. Earlier, on September 21, 2026, Republican Governor Abbott had already directed state regulators to pause data center permitting. Governor-elect Hinojosa advocated a full moratorium on new data center construction during the campaign. Since Texas has previously been the center of U.S. AI data center construction, the Democrats' control of the governorship and the state House, along with their policy stance on data centers, leaves the future of local AI data center construction uncertain. There are currently no reports of specific policy changes formally introduced after the new government takes office.

AI overview of reporting · Updated 4 h前