Local officials across the United States are facing an intensifying political backlash over decisions supporting data centers, with voters attempting to remove mayors, council members, township trustees, and county commissioners who approved data center projects, incentives, or zoning changes. Joe Horn, an organizer of a recall campaign in Yukon, Oklahoma, told Newsweek he was "hopeful that other cities around the nation will get involved like our community did when they were not being represented by their elected officials." Ballotpedia, a nonprofit, nonpartisan online encyclopedia of American politics, elections, government, and public policy, identified multiple elected officials targeted in data-center-related recall efforts during the first six months of 2026. The campaigns are part of a broader increase in recall activity, with 329 officials targeted across several states during that period, the highest midyear figure recorded since Ballotpedia began tracking recalls in 2014.
The data center disputes have centered on electricity and water consumption, noise, environmental effects, property values, tax incentives, and whether residents received enough opportunity to influence decisions. Supporters of data center developments, however, have argued that projects can generate investment and tax revenue while strengthening America’s AI infrastructure. The movement has already removed at least one official directly through a recall election, prompted another to resign, and placed further officials on course for recall votes in November.
John Perkins, a First District councilman in Independence, Missouri, was removed in a September 1 recall election after residents objected to his vote supporting incentives for a massive Nebius data center. The project is planned as a 2.1-million-square-foot campus in the city’s Little Blue Valley area. Perkins voted for an incentive package that included a 90 percent property tax abatement.
Recall organizers argued that he had not adequately consulted constituents before supporting the development. The campaign collected the 1,000 signatures needed to force an election. Voters then removed Perkins by a decisive margin, with 68 percent supporting the recall and 32 percent opposing it.
Perkins’ removal followed a separate electoral revolt in Festus, Missouri. Four incumbent council members there were defeated in the regular April 7 election after supporting a proposed $6 billion data center on approximately 360 acres. Opponents subsequently tried to recall Mayor Sam Richards and council members David Boyer, Kevin Dennis and Michael Cook, but the effort failed to make it to the vote.
The recall effort was ultimately blocked after the city attorney determined that although the petitions challenged officials' support for the data center project, they didn’t allege unlawful conduct or other grounds required for a recall under Missouri law. Missouri permits recalls on grounds including misconduct, incompetence or failure to perform legally prescribed duties, meaning political disagreement alone wasn’t enough. Residents accused Festus officials of ignoring concerns about water consumption, electricity rates and effects on nearby neighborhoods.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
