A small Wisconsin city upended by a data center backed by President Donald Trump is set to vote Tuesday on a referendum that could reshape grassroots resistance to AI projects nationwide.
The vote in Port Washington, a lakeside town of roughly 12,000 people just north of Milwaukee, appears to be the first time any U.S. municipality will go to the ballot to kneecap data center development. It marks an aggressive new tactic in an escalating movement to oppose the hulking artificial intelligence factories — and offers a potential blueprint for other small towns challenging Big Tech.
“I’m not aware of another ballot referendum that has been taken directly to the voters yet,” said Brad Tietz, state policy director for the Data Center Coalition, which represents tech companies and developers. “If this trend continues and grows, it’s going to have significant consequences for our economic competitiveness [and] our national security. I don’t think that can be understated.”
The vote comes as companies descend on Middle America to build the data centers, which are major priorities for the White House and the U.S. tech sector but the object of scorn for roughly 3 in 10 U.S. voters who, according to a recent POLITICO poll, say they would oppose a facility being built in their area. At least three other U.S. cities are gearing up for referendums of their own this year, in a growing trend that pits grassroots organizers against some of the world’s richest companies.
