The Monterey Park ballot measure is part of a wave of opposition rising across the country.
Monterey Park, California became the second municipality in the US to use a popular referendum to ban AI data centers. And it wasn't even close. The anti-data center measure received 86.38% of the vote, and mail-in votes are still being counted.
California’s first-ever anti-data center ballot measure is shaping up to be an absolute shellacking for the tech industry — part of a wave of opposition rising across the country, as communities and lawmakers grapple with the frenzied push to build AI infrastructure. Monterey Park, a city of 60,000 people about 10 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, placed a measure on Tuesday’s ballot asking voters if they wanted to prohibit data centers in their city. The response, so far, has been an unequivocal “yes,” with 86 percent of votes counted as of Wednesday afternoon in favor of the proposal. Local officials and environmental organizers said they hope the drubbing will spur other cities to enact similar bans. “A lot of the other cities that are facing data center proposals are going to follow suit,” Elizabeth Yang, the city’s mayor, said on Tuesday. “There’s [a] bad reputation across the board, across the country, from other data centers that have been built in neighborhoods.”
Congrats to Mayor Yang and the people of Monterey Park. 🍻🎉
In general, Americans want data centers about as much as they want Ebola virus.
Tech companies want to shove AI down our gullets while making us pay higher electric rates for the dubious privilege.
With some exceptions, things are not going well for tech at the ballot box these days.
In a separate article, POLITICO reports...
Less than half an hour after polls closed in the Golden State, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan conceded the governor’s race, becoming the most prominent casualty for tech on primary night. The former startup executive rallied Silicon Valley donors to pour tens of millions of dollars into his failed bid, only to land in the low single digits. Tech challengers are also stumbling in congressional races in the tech-heavy Bay Area. Entrepreneur Ethan Agarwal conceded early Wednesday after coming nowhere close to advancing against Silicon Valley Rep. Ro Khanna, a progressive who’s championed a proposed tax on California billionaires. And wealthy venture capitalist Eric Jones could get boxed out of his challenge to Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson in his Napa County district, as Jones is pulling in at a close third. “This is a preview of what’s coming in 2026, and it’s a preview of what’s coming in 2028,” Rob Flaherty, a Democratic strategist who was deputy campaign manager for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, told POLITICO. “Association with tech money is increasingly going to become a problem.” The anti-tech mood is rising across the U.S., with the California results just the latest demonstration of populist opposition. Voters are angry about water and energy-hungry data centers in their communities, and parents are concerned that chatbots are harming their children. Tech is poised to suffer more electoral defeats this summer in New York, Florida and elsewhere, where detractors challenging the industry are frontrunners in their upcoming primaries. “People are looking for these avenues to push back on tech,” said Irene Kao, director of Courage California, a progressive advocacy group. “Voters at the end of the day really want to see candidates who reflect who they are. They want candidates who feel less out of touch.”
And what could be more "out of touch" than tech multi-billionaires who are feverishly developing new technologies to put us out of work?
The primary season is less than half over and there are more potentially bad results for billionaire tech lords.
In NYC, a progressive named Alex Bores is running for US House from NY-12. He worked in tech himself for a while but is now running a strongly anti-oligarch campaign. NY-12 covers the midsection of Manhattan and is a very high profile race. In polls, Alex has been running first or second and big tech has been contributing to Alex's opponents.
Because the area is heavily Democratic, winning the Dem primary makes the winner the overwhelming favorite to win in November. So if you have friends who live in NY-12, urge them to vote for Ales Bores. Election Day is June 23rd and early voting starts on Saturday June 13th.
Alex Bores for Congress
^^^ There's a map of the distract at his site, just scroll down.
