The 2026 US midterm elections could influence how chemicals are regulated, how existing laws are implemented, and how much state policy on data centers, vaccines, pesticides, and other issues diverges across the country.
The policy questions surrounding these issues reach across the chemical enterprise—from industrial development and consumer products to agriculture, food, and public health. The result after Nov. 3 could be an increasingly fragmented policy landscape of regulatory requirements and market conditions varying substantially from state to state.
Here are five key policy issues for the chemical enterprise getting particular attention in state races around the county.
Data centers
At a Glance
Issue: States weigh limits on data center development.
Key players: Georgia gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms (D); Kansas state senator and gubernatorial candidate Cindy Holscher (D)
Why it matters: Different state approaches to siting, environmental safeguards, and infrastructure could create a patchwork for companies supplying data center chemicals and technologies.
Data centers have become a prominent issue in the 2026 elections as artificial intelligence drives rapid development and voters raise concerns about electricity costs, water use, and environmental and other community impacts. The Donald J. Trump administration has made faster data center development a federal priority, tying the infrastructure to US technological competition and national security. But that federal push is colliding with increasingly contentious state and local debates over whether—and under what conditions—projects should proceed.
