AI is primarily a blue state problem, and Democrats have the most to lose amid brewing voter ‘techlash’

Anxiety about AI is real, and it feels like it’s everywhere. Proclamations of AI-driven job losses and grassroots movements opposing data center construction make AI fears sound as if they’re universal, but there is a geography underlying the backlash against AI. 

With midterm elections five months away and AI policy promising to be a political flashpoint, that map could come in handy for Democratic candidates—either as an asset, or as warning of their vulnerabilities. 

AI anxiety has escalated to a national conversation, but actual exposure to the technology remains relatively confined to specific cities and states. Workers whose roles are most exposed to AI are disproportionately clustered in Democratic-leaning jurisdictions, according to an analysis by the Brookings Institution published Wednesday. For a party still struggling to revitalize itself after widespread electoral losses in 2024, AI fears could emerge a make-or-break factor this November.

In 2024, 62 of the 100 most AI-exposed counties voted Democrat, according to Brookings, which defined counties as AI-exposed if larger shares of their workforces performed roles that could be handled by AI. Those places include traditional blue strongholds like Manh...