Missouri Voters Boot Council Over $6B Data Center Approval
All four incumbent council members up for reelection in Festus, MO were voted out after approving a massive data center deal.
Democracy came for the Festus, Missouri city council — hard. Voters ousted all four incumbent council members running for reelection last week, just days after the council greenlit a $6 billion data center project.
The electoral wipeout eliminated half the sitting council in one sweep. A surge in voter turnout drove the results, with residents clearly furious over how the data center approval was handled.
The $6B project represents a massive infrastructure bet for a small Missouri city. But the approval process apparently left locals feeling steamrolled rather than consulted.
It's a cautionary tale for municipalities rushing to court Big Tech infrastructure dollars. Data centers bring tax revenue and jobs, but ramming approvals through without community buy-in can backfire spectacularly — as four now-former council members just learned the hard way.