When it comes to elections, often, Americans tend to look more at the big picture. Most of our attention goes to who we elect as president, along with our senators and representatives in Congress. Those absolutely matter. But as the saying goes, sometimes it's the little things. Our local municipal elections have a more immediate effect on our lives than national ones, but they tend to get overlooked. However, on Tuesday night, one small city became an example of why those local races matter.
READ MORE: Republicans: Remember to Keep Your Eyes on State Elections
Festus, Missouri, is a small town of around 14,000 people about a half hour south of St. Louis. Tuesday was election day in Missouri for things like school boards, sales taxes, and small-town mayors. In Festus, there was a city council election, and voters spoke loud and clear by ousting four members of the eight-member city council for their support of a proposed AI data center to be built nearby.
A packed Festus Senior High School was filled Monday with people wanting to voice their opinions on a proposed data center project before a vote. https://t.co/TFHuXBLukQ
— KMOV (@KMOV) March 24, 2026
Three of these four city council members had voted for the go-ahead for a $6 billion data center a week before the election. What they got for that go-ahead vote was being voted out of office and defeated by candidates who ran against the data center, and were also in favor of more transparency in the whole approval process. Dan Moore is one of the candidates who defeated a pro-data center council member. He said:
“This data center fight has struck this community to the core and really, honestly ignited a community-driven effort here. People are awake now, and we’re not going to let this continue on anymore.”
In the run-up to the election, residents filled the high school gym where meetings were held regarding the proposed data center. At times, the meetings got pretty rowdy. Lauren Albers was one of the residents in attendance who opposes the data center. She said:
“I am not against growth. I’m against putting data centers between homes. I am against rushing into development before residents get real information, real answers and a real voice.”
Not everyone at the town hall meetings was against the data center. One man who spoke talked about the economic growth the data center would bring to the region, saying, "I want our town to thrive, support working families, and invest in our future. This is the kind of opportunity we should say yes to."
The City of Festus, MO canceled their Council meeting for tonight following last night's election whereby citizens voted out of office every single member who voted for the data center there that the people did not want.
— Missi Hesketh for MO 7th (@MissiforMO) April 9, 2026
Micro to macro, that is how we hold them accountable.
Other communities around the nation have also voted on putting data centers in their area. On Tuesday, voters in Port Washington, Wisconsin, voted by a two-to-one margin to approve a first-of-its-kind in the country ballot initiative opposing a $15 billion OpenAI Vantage data center, and there have been similar protests of data centers in Alabama, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Florida.
ALSO READ: Are AI Data Centers the Future of Farmlands?
Sometimes on a national level, we don't think our vote counts. But the residents of Festus just proved that closer to home, sometimes where it counts the most, they absolutely do. Those now-former Festus City Council members now know those close-to-home votes count too.
Packed high school gym. Hundreds chanting 'NO DATA CENTER!' at the top of their lungs.
— Liberacrat™️ (@ViralVideos) April 3, 2026
Festus City Council looked residents in the eyes and voted 6-2 to approve the $6 BILLION project anyway.
This is what 'listening to the taxpayers' looks like in 2026! pic.twitter.com/1DLh7geH2i
Editor's Note: The Democrat Party has never been less popular as voters reject its globalist agenda.
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