As voters head to the polls in this year's midterm elections, a new source of political money is drawing scrutiny—donations linked to the rapidly expanding artificial intelligence (AI) industry. Experts say the influx of AI-related cash could shape how some voters view candidates, though its impact at the ballot box remains uncertain.
While corporate political donations have long been a feature of American elections, the rise of AI and the rapid construction of data centers across the U.S. have turned the industry's political spending into a new flashpoint. Candidates in several key races are now facing questions about whether financial support from AI-linked interests could influence their positions on issues ranging from electricity costs and tax incentives to local approval of new data center projects.
“Data-center backed candidates may face some backlash by their political association,” Virginia Tech professor Cayce Myers told Newsweek. “It's difficult to say that candidates who accept this money will have definitive backlash, but there are some voters where this is the single issue affecting their decision. In an election where there is a tight race a handful of votes can be the difference between victory and defeat.”
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Midterm Races Where AI Political Donations Are a Topic of Interest
There are several races in which campaign donations from AI-affiliated organizations have made headlines in the run-up to Election Day on November 3. For example, in Texas, where Republican Governor Greg Abbott is running for re-election against Democratic state Representative Gina Hinojosa, Abbott has received millions in donations from data center-related donors and people with indirect ties to the data center industry, the Texas Tribune reported on Monday, even after he paused new data center approvals until state officials conducted and audit of projects seeking connection with the state’s electric grid.
In Ohio, Republican Senator Jon Husted and Democratic former Senator Sherrod Brown have exchanged verbal blows regarding AI-related campaign donations in their Senate race. In September, Fox News reported that Brown’s campaign finance records showed that he received $20,000 from a Google corporate political action committee across his political career, while American Journal News reported that Husted has received more than $630,000 from organizations affiliated with data centers over the past 20 years.
However, the candidates' campaign donations are much lower for this election cycle. So far this year, Husted's campaign has received $11,000 from companies affiliated with artificial intelligence, including from political action committees associated with Google, Amazon and Anthropic. Since May 2025, that number jumps to $22,000 and includes donations from companies like Microsoft and Oracle, according to Federal Election Commission records. The same PACs did not donate to Brown's campaign.
A spokesperson for Husted’s campaign told Newsweek that the senator believes data centers “should remain a local decision where communities support their own priorities” and that if a community opts to build a data center, the community should not pay the associated infrastructure costs.
“This is why Sen. Husted introduced the Ratepayer Protection Act, his bipartisan legislation requiring these companies to pay for their own power infrastructure. While the bill passed the House with overwhelming support, Senate Democrats blocked it to play politics with Ohioans' electric bills,” the spokesperson said.
“As Ohio's lieutenant governor, Husted did not have the power to give tax breaks to companies, and any claim otherwise is an outright lie. Meanwhile, Sherrod Brown's hypocrisy is glaring: he has taken thousands of dollars from data center company PACs and lobbyists. Brown supported data center development when he was in Washington, and secured $2.8 million in federal funding for a research center in Dayton that was working on data center cooling infrastructure."
A spokesperson for Brown’s campaign told Newsweek that Husted had greatly influenced the presence of data centers in Ohio.
“Jon Husted led the charge to bring data centers to Ohio, forcing Ohioans to pay thousands more in higher electric bills and giving giant out-of-state corporations billions of dollars in out-of-control tax breaks,” the spokesperson said. “Husted is a ‘chief reason’ Ohio has 226 data centers and is ‘the face of data centers’ in Ohio. Ohioans should get to decide if data centers are built in their communities and should never be forced to subsidize the electricity costs of big corporations.”
Neither campaign answered when directly asked by Newsweek for any assurances they could give voters that contributions from data center interests would not influence the candidates’ decisions if elected.
AI remains an important topic for Ohio voters, and for many across America.
“It’s unclear if it will be a 'deciding factor,' but AI, data centers, mass surveillance and tech billionaires are an issue that many in Ohio and the country in general are concerned about,” University of Akron Department of Political Science professor David Cohen told Newsweek. “In a very recent BGSU/YouGov poll, 19 percent of Ohioans listed AI and data centers as important issues. That pales in comparison with concerns over the economy and inflation, but 1 in 5 voters being concerned about an issue is significant.”
While voters may not be monitoring campaign finance records, Cohen said they become "increasingly aware" when contributions of note are covered in the news.
“Perception is reality in politics,” Cohen said. “If people perceive that an elected official or candidate are too close to big tech or even act as their surrogate, it really does not matter what the actual reality is."
While AI and data centers are a hot topic driving discussion and concern among American voters, the chief issues remain in the immediate impacts felt by Americans, Myers said, such as monthly electric and water bills.
“There is a sense that in a political season defined by affordability that subsidization of big tech and data centers coupled with rising costs of electricity, water and other utilities directly impacts voters,” Myers said. “However, politically data centers and regulation of big tech is in a fluid state with both Republicans and Democrats criticizing these businesses and their state incentives. Long term, it seems that data centers will become an even more important political issue as their presence presents an economic and social disruption to Americans.”
As for if such contributions will have an impact on who wins the election, no matter the race, that remains to be seen.
“There is a growing skepticism and criticism of elites and perceived corporate influence in elections,” Myers said. “Money has always been a controversial aspect of American politics because corporate donors are perceived to have undue influence over politicians. This type of connection provides for easy political attacks pitting moneyed Big Tech against regular voters struggling to make ends meet.”
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Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jenna deJong and Dave Siminoff.