Texans Reject Data Centers in New Poll as Little Elm Watches Regional Development

LITTLE ELM, Texas — Little Elm, located on the south shore of Lewisville Lake approximately 35 miles north of Dallas, is a Denton County city of about 55,000 residents with 23 miles of lakeshore.

A new University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll finds that a clear majority of Texas voters — 56% — oppose the construction of a data center in their community, while only 29% support it. The opposition is strongest in rural areas, where 62% of respondents said they opposed data center development. The poll surveyed 1,200 registered voters between June 5 and June 12 and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 2.83 percentage points.

"What the data underlines is how much of a problem the business stakeholders that are heavily in favor of data center development have on their hands. I think the pushback on the issue emerged more quickly and is more widespread than the conventional response to economic development in Texas has historically." — James Henson, co-director, UT/Texas Politics Project poll

The poll, released June 23, also found a stark partisan divide: 71% of Democrats and 62% of independents oppose data centers in their communities, while Republicans are split almost evenly, with 44% opposed and 42% in support. Nearly half of all respondents — 49% — said they expect artificial intelligence to have a negative impact on the economy.

The findings come as Texas has become the nation’s top market for data centers, with a recent Texas Tribune analysis identifying 248 planned facilities across the state, roughly half in unincorporated areas where local governments have little regulatory authority. Governor Greg Abbott, in a June 10 letter to state regulators, called for tighter regulation of data centers’ energy and water use and urged lawmakers to repeal the state’s sales tax exemption for the industry, which now costs Texas more than $1 billion per year. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has directed Senate interim committees to examine legislation addressing water and energy consumption by data centers as well as the cost of the tax exemption.

James Henson, co-director of the UT/Texas Politics Project poll, said the breadth of opposition represents a political challenge for Republican leaders and predicted the Legislature will almost certainly act on the issue when the next regular session convenes in January 2027.

Source: https://www.texastribune.org/2026/06/23/texans-oppose-data-centers-poll/