Marquette poll shows further drop in voters’ data center views
A recent Marquette Law School Poll indicates a continued decline in public opinion on data centers in Wisconsin, with 76% of registered voters now believing the costs outweigh the benefits. This represents a significant shift from a similar poll conducted in October 2025. Despite growing opposition across political affiliations, data centers remain a low-priority issue for most voters, overshadowed by economic concerns.
The latest Marquette Law School Poll reveals a further decline in public sentiment regarding data centers among Wisconsin voters. Conducted earlier this month, the survey found that only 22% of registered voters believe the benefits of data center projects surpass their costs, a substantial drop from 44% in October 2025. Conversely, 76% now hold the view that costs outweigh benefits.
While the wording of the poll question varied between the October 2025 survey—which referenced Microsoft's decision against building a data center following community opposition—and the more recent poll, which broadly mentioned several proposed or existing data centers in the state, earlier polls this year also showed a consistent trend of voters souring on these large-scale projects. Splits of 29-70 in mid-February and 30-69 in mid-March underscore this growing negativity.
Analysis by political affiliation demonstrates that a majority in each partisan group now believes data center costs are greater than their benefits. Among Republicans, this share increased from 53% in October 2025 to 67% in the latest poll. Democrats showed greater variability but ended with 88% opposing in the recent survey, while Independents rose from 55% to 71%. Despite the controversy, data centers are not a top concern for most respondents, with only 5% identifying it as their most important issue, far behind inflation and the cost of living (42%) and illegal immigration (13%).
The most recent survey was conducted from July 8-16, involving 838 registered Wisconsin voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.