Harwood, North Dakota Votes to Keep Its Data Center, Bucking a National Trend

Data centers emerged as one of the most contentious issues of the November midterm elections, with voters across the United States confronted with ballot measures aimed at slowing or blocking industrial computing projects. Of the 45 such measures on ballots nationwide, 44 went against development, according to data from Redbud Consulting. The single exception was Harwood, North Dakota.

Harwood, a town of about 940 people ten miles from Fargo, overwhelmingly rejected a charter amendment that would have imposed new restrictions on large scale industrial developments, including data centers. About 75 percent of voters, or 325 of the 430 votes cast, opposed the measure.

The project at stake

The vote centered on a 160-acre data center campus already under construction in Harwood. Applied Digital Corp. is overseeing the build, with Oracle as the end user. The facility is scheduled to be fully operational next year and could eventually expand to as much as 900 acres.

Nick Phillips, executive vice president of external affairs at Applied Digital, said the company chose Harwood for its cooler climate, access to energy, and what he described as a pro-business landscape. He added that the developer had held community conversations through town halls, one-on-one meetings, and public forums beyond what is legally required.

A grassroots push for more oversight

The ballot measure was championed by Michael Swartz, a senior software developer who has lived in Harwood for nearly two decades. Swartz told Fortune that residents only learned about the data center about three weeks before construction began in September 2025. At the time, the Fargo Forum reported that both the Fargo mayor and the Harwood mayor had signed nondisclosure agreements with Applied Digital that July.

Swartz formed the advocacy group Voices of Harwood and drafted a Home Rule Charter amendment that would require independent reviews and public hearings for industrial projects. He saw a charter amendment as stronger than an ordinance, which the city council could change. The petition to place the measure on the ballot received 91 signatures in three days, more than twice the 40 required.

Swartz said he was troubled by the ballot language, which he argued differed significantly from what Voices of Harwood had submitted and made the measure harder for voters to understand. He also raised concerns about noise pollution, noting that an elementary school sits within about a mile of the campus.

Officials and business groups pushed back

Town officials and local business groups publicly opposed the measure. Mayor Blake Hankey argued the amendment would add administrative burden and set a precedent of requiring public votes on routine town issues. City Councilman Chris Higgins warned that Applied Digital might de-annex the project, depriving the town of tax revenue. Hankey said the data center would bring in $1.65 million in taxes by 2028.

The Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce also campaigned against the measure. Materials distributed by the chamber claimed passage would cost taxpayers an additional $300,000 to $544,000 and increase annual taxes because of lost projects. Cale Dunwoody, the chamber's vice president for public policy, said the group worked closely with residents and businesses to provide accurate information about the amendment.

Why Harwood broke the pattern

Swartz attributed the measure's defeat to the same economic anxiety that helped drive broader Democratic gains on election night. Pew Research Center has found that half of Americans believe data centers will push up their energy costs. In Harwood, the prospect of losing tax benefits appeared to weigh more heavily than concerns about the facility itself.

"We live in a climate right now where money is tight," Swartz told Fortune. "Pocketbooks are getting squeezed by things that are way outside of our control." He said some residents are living paycheck to paycheck and cannot afford additional special assessments on their monthly house payments.

A test case for the AI buildout

The Harwood result stands out because it runs counter to the national mood. As artificial intelligence companies race to secure land, power, and permits for data centers, local opposition has spread. Moratoriums and restrictions have multiplied, forcing firms like OpenAI to rebrand development efforts and promise community benefits in exchange for support.

Harwood's decision suggests that when voters believe a data center will deliver concrete tax benefits and officials make that case clearly, projects can survive direct democratic challenge. But the lopsided national tally also shows how difficult that combination is to replicate.