Democrats won the Texas governor's race and will take control of the Texas House for the first time in 24 years, a shift that could slow major AI data center projects in the state, according to MIT Technology Review.
The report says Texas is the fastest-growing data center market in the US. Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated Republican Greg Abbott, and Democrat James Talarico won the US Senate seat over Ken Paxton. Both Democrats made data centers a central campaign issue.
The report says Abbott directed a key state regulator on September 21 to halt data center permits. Panelists at the DCD conference in Ashburn, Virginia, expected this to slow existing projects and could halt new ones. According to the report, Hinojosa supported data center tax breaks in 2023 but later pushed for a full moratorium.
The report names two large projects in the state. The Stargate Frontier data center in Shackelford County is projected to serve 1,820 megawatts. Nexus Hubbard, mostly intended to serve Anthropic, has a planned size of 6,400 megawatts.
The report also says local factors complicate the picture. Ellis County, which leads in data center permitting requests, voted for Abbott and Paxton. Cameron County, a data center hot spot, voted Democratic. Mitchell and Scurry Counties, where west Texas projects are located, voted Republican. The report notes that city and county officials and construction unions may resist sweeping state restrictions.