Two-thirds of Oregon voters want a temporary halt on new AI data center construction, and more than three-to-one oppose new tax breaks for the industry, according to a DHM Research poll published on Tuesday, Aug. 4.

The findings land as Beaverton-area lawmakers push a three-year moratorium and the Beaverton School District faces a projected $70 million deficit that district leaders have tied to data center tax abatements.

The Portland-based polling firm surveyed 600 Oregon voters July 23–28. The margin of error is 4 percentage points. Opposition to tax breaks crosses party lines: 84% of Democrats and 54% of Republicans said they oppose new incentives for data centers.

Support for a moratorium is similarly bipartisan. Seventy-seven percent of Democrats and 51% of Republicans back a temporary construction pause.

"Support for data centers collapsed," DHM senior vice president John Horvick told OregonLive.

Beaverton lawmakers act

The poll dropped the same day state Rep. Farrah Chaichi, D-Beaverton, and three other Democratic legislators announced they will propose a three-year moratorium on new large data centers during the 2027 legislative session beginning in January, the Oregon Capital Chronicle reported.

Co-sponsors include state Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland, state Sen. Courtney Neron Misslin, D-Wilsonville, and state Rep. Lesly Muñoz, D-Woodburn.

"It was a mild proposal that was treated as radical six months ago," Golden said. "So the grounds really shifted."

The stakes are concrete locally. Tech companies received nearly $90 million in Standard Enterprise Zone property tax breaks in Washington County in 2025 and are projected to save roughly the same in 2026, according to the Oregon Capital Chronicle. A 2024 Good Jobs First report found 191 Oregon school districts collectively lost $275 million to property tax abatements that year alone.

At a May rally in Hillsboro against data center tax breaks, District 15 state Senate candidate Myrna Muñoz pointed directly at the classroom impact. "Forest Grove lost 51 teachers this year and Beaverton closed a school," she said at the rally, as KGW reported July 27.

What happens next

Gov. Tina Kotek's Data Center Advisory Committee, created in January 2026 to evaluate the industry's electricity use, water consumption and tax incentives, held its seventh all-day meeting Aug. 4. The committee has received 700 public comments; energy use, affordability and tax breaks were the top concerns.

The committee plans to issue draft findings in September, take 30 days of public comment and release a final report in October ahead of November's statewide election. A final public meeting is scheduled for Sept. 23.

As we reported July 27, Hillsboro's 120-day moratorium on new data center applications is already in effect. Oregon would join 15 other states that have proposed data center moratoriums in the past year if the three-year ban advances in January.