Updated 12:15 a.m. ET
Democrats will take control of the U.S. House of Representatives, the major news networks project, handing the party a decisive check on President Donald Trump for the final two years of his term.
The Senate could be next. Democrats flipped Republican-held Senate seats in North Carolina and South Carolina Tuesday night, putting them halfway to the net gain of four they need to take control, with races in Kansas, Ohio and Texas still out.
Stock futures slid on bets that a strong Democratic showing could slow the data center build-out and tighten regulation of artificial intelligence. S&P 500 futures fell about 1% and Nasdaq-100 futures about 2%, and the CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street’s fear gauge, climbed above 20. Bonds moved the other way. The 10-year Treasury yield, a key benchmark for commercial real estate debt, slipped to about 4.92% from its 4.95% close.
For CRE, though, the rules that matter most are being set closer to home.
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In Bisnow’s major markets alone, 10 governor’s races, 17 ballot measures and a smattering of local races have the power to change what gets built, what it costs and how hard it is to get done.
On the campaign trail, few things got kicked around more than data centers and housing costs. Now voters are having their say.
Here’s what passed, what failed and who will be making the policy calls that shape CRE for years to come.
This story will be updated as races are called.
Gubernatorial Races
Arizona
TOO CLOSE TO CALL (58-40): It is still up in the air whether Katie Hobbs will return for another term as Arizona governor, although the incumbent leads with 58% of the vote versus 40% for Republican challenger U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs. But regardless of who wins, a data center moratorium is unlikely. Hobbs has said imposing a statewide pause isn’t the right approach, and Biggs says local communities should have the final say. So far, 68% of the vote has been counted.
California
Democrat Xavier Becerra defeated Republican Steve Hilton to take over for term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom in California with 59% of the vote. Becerra said during his campaign that he would declare a statewide emergency over California’s housing shortage and direct his administration to find ways to reduce the cost of building. He has expressed support for laws that facilitate the creation of housing units like duplexes and condos while vowing to hold California cities accountable for not creating enough housing.
Colorado
Democrat and Attorney General Phil Weiser defeated opponent Victor Marx in a landslide. Weiser was widely favored to win and received endorsements from many prominent Colorado Republicans, who expressed concern about Marx’s background, which includes allegations of murder and domestic violence. As attorney general, Weiser was among those who sued RealPage over its rent-setting algorithm in 2024 and said while campaigning that he would have signed a 2025 bill vetoed by term-limited Gov. Jared Polis that banned the use of such algorithms in the state.
Florida
Republican Byron Donalds won over Florida voters with 50.1% of votes, a 1.5-percentage-point lead over Democrat David Jolly.
Donalds is set to take over from Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has served in the role since 2019, making Donalds the Sunshine State’s first Black governor.
The governor-elect’s campaign promises focused heavily on affordable housing, calling for the removal of local zoning restrictions, shortening permitting processes with technology, and promoting smaller units to developers to lower homebuilding costs and boost housing inventory.
Donalds’ win is closely aligned with the real estate industry. It poured millions into his campaign, which amassed more than $150M by Election Day. Some of his largest donors included billionaire developer Stephen Ross and Citadel founder Ken Griffin.
Georgia
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms defeated Republican rival Rick Jackson in the race for the state’s top office, paving the way for fresh initiatives to boost affordable housing. Bottoms is making history as the first Black woman to be elected governor in the U.S. She is also set to become the first Democratic Georgia governor since 2002.
Bottoms, whom real estate largely didn’t support, has pledged to create a new trust fund for affordable and workforce housing, streamline the permitting process, and expand renter and down payment assistance. She has also called for a statewide data center moratorium to give Georgia time to create a comprehensive policy on development.
Illinois
Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker easily landed a third term despite challenger Darren Bailey’s attempts to blame the incumbent for cost-of-living increases. Pritzker announced plans just last week to invest $156M in an initiative targeting the state's housing shortage. He has also funneled money to the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, betting on the growth of a nascent industry in the state. On the other hand, he paused data center tax credits this year and has been lukewarm on giving public money to the Chicago Bears to build a new stadium.
Massachusetts
Gov. Maura Healey held off Republican challenger Mike Minogue to secure a second term. The Democrat has made housing development a top priority and has tightened rules for data center developers.
During her first term, Healey spearheaded a $5.2B housing bill that passed in 2024, including funding for affordable housing creation and zoning changes to allow accessory dwelling units. Her administration also sued cities and towns to enforce the sweeping multifamily zoning law passed under the prior governor. On the data center front, although Massachusetts isn’t a hotbed for the industry, Healey introduced new hurdles for developers that some experts said made it a less appealing place to build.
New York
Gov. Kathy Hochul won another term over Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman in New York’s gubernatorial race. Her supporters included CRE bigwigs who financially backed the incumbent. Affordability was top of mind for voters, and late last week, Hochul announced $872M in investments to create or preserve more than 2,200 affordable homes in the state. She also signed the country’s first statewide data center moratorium in July, pausing a $10B pipeline for a year.
Pennsylvania
Incumbent Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro has won another term. Data centers became a key issue in the race between Shapiro and Republican challenger Stacy Garrity, who attacked the governor for his prior support of the industry. Shapiro had promoted the booming data center industry in the state last year, but in August, he rolled out new restrictions on data center development, removing the sector from his accelerated permitting program and requiring developers to get approval from local authorities. Some developers embraced the rules, saying they will help separate experienced project teams from speculators. Garrity had called for tougher rules on the sector, including a pause on data center development.
During his first term, Shapiro advanced a $1B housing plan, which included a fund to support development and zoning reform to allow more units in single-family neighborhoods. And he achieved a series of big economic development wins from pharmaceutical companies expanding in the state, such as a $3.5B project from Eli Lilly in the Lehigh Valley.
Texas
Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa unseated Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who conceded Tuesday night, to become the first Democrat elected governor of Texas since Ann Richards in 1990. Hinojosa made data centers central to her campaign, calling for a moratorium on new projects until lawmakers pass safeguards in a state with roughly 26 gigawatts of capacity operating or under development. Abbott had already paused data center grid connections and permitting pending a state audit, and Texas project approvals fell 5% in the third quarter, according to permitting consultancy Spark AI. That audit is due in December, weeks before Hinojosa takes office. She has also proposed barring private equity firms from buying single-family homes, targeting institutional landlords.
Before the election, Spark AI growth lead Jacob Biderman told Bisnow a Hinojosa win would meaningfully change the trajectory of development in the state.
“Texas has been one of the more encouraging and welcoming states for data center development, so the outcome of this election could significantly change where developers feel comfortable — or able — to get facilities online,” he said.
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Other Statewide Races
Georgia Senate
Democrat Jon Ossoff retained his seat in the U.S. Senate. Ossoff, a rising star on the Democratic national stage, has promised to repeal the Trump administration’s tariff policies – one of the primary drivers of rising construction costs — and opposed the president’s sweeping tax cut bill. Ossoff was one of the drivers behind the push to restrict institutional ownership of single-family homes and said he would help local communities either lure or resist new data center projects, depending on what they wanted.
Georgia Public Service Commission
Democrats have taken control of the Georgia Public Service Commission for the first time in decades. Both Democratic candidates, Peter Hubbard and Sheila Edwards, beat their Republican rivals and secured seats on the five-member board that decides how much utilities can charge customers.
Hubbard and Edwards have pledged to hold the state’s largest utility, Georgia Power, more accountable for how much customers pay for energy and have promised to ensure that data centers’ costs aren’t passed on to residential bills, which could affect a 20-gigawatt pipeline of projects. The two new members will join Alicia Johnson as the Democratic bloc on the board.
Texas Senate
Democratic state Rep. James Talarico won a Senate seat, making him the first Democrat elected to the Senate since 1988.
He beat Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a controversial figure who was impeached but acquitted by the Texas Senate in 2023. More than a third of the impeachment articles involved Paxton’s relationship with embattled Austin real estate developer Nate Paul. Paxton also has a significant real estate portfolio.
Talarico has called for tighter regulations on data centers in Texas and said their construction shouldn’t be allowed to contribute to the state’s affordability crisis, which could upend expansion in the top data center development market in the country.
Mayoral And Other Local Races
Chicago
Pat Hynes won 85% of the vote in the race for Cook County assessor, defeating Libertarian challenger Nico Tsatsoulis after unseating two-term incumbent Fritz Kaegi in the March Democratic primary. Hynes has promised to make the Assessor's Office “boring again” by being more predictable, professional and accurate. He plans to create a new economic development department within the Assessor's Office to offer valuation transparency for new development.
Houston
Letitia Plummer is the new Harris County judge, the head of the board of commissioners that oversees operations for the county that houses Houston and nearly 5.1 million people. The former Houston City Council member, a Democrat, unseated former Harris County Treasurer Orlando Sanchez, a Republican. On top of flood prevention and affordability, Plummer’s priorities include freezing property taxes. She also proposed Houston’s apartment inspection ordinance.
Washington, D.C.
Janeese Lewis George has won the D.C. mayoral race, setting the stage for a progressive shift in the city’s leadership. The D.C. Council member has committed to building 72,000 homes in five years and aims to do so through zoning and permitting process changes. She wants to modernize rent stabilization, but she has yet to offer specifics on how she will accomplish that.
Ballot Measures
California
TOO CLOSE TO CALL (54-46 opposed): Proposition 45 — Environmental Reviews: The measure, which is leaning no as of early Wednesday morning with 44% of ballots counted, would set clear deadlines for California Environmental Quality Act reviews for a set of qualified “essential” project types, including housing, clean energy, medical facilities and broadband. The proposal aims to help make it easier for developers to build in the state by eliminating delays in the review process. Counting mail ballots can take weeks, so we may not know the outcome for days.
TOO CLOSE TO CALL (59-41 in favor): Proposition 1 — Housing Affordability: The measure would authorize $11.3B in state general obligation bonds to fund housing programs and veterans’ home loans. If passed, it could provide subsidies for up to 40,000 affordable housing units that are stalled because developers lack the capital to build them. About 59% of ballots so far are for the measure, with 44% counted. Processing mail-in ballots could take a few more days.
PASSED: San Francisco Proposition J — Foreclosed Sales: San Francisco's Proposition J, which nabbed 80% of the vote, eliminates a transfer-tax exemption for the foreclosure or takeover of large commercial properties, requiring lenders and other parties acquiring those buildings through foreclosure to pay the city's real estate transfer tax. Passing the measure would create a new revenue stream for the city, but opponents argue it could stifle the city’s burgeoning real estate comeback, which began two years ago with distressed asset sales.
Florida
PASSED, 62-38: Amendment 3 — Property Taxes: The measure significantly cuts residential property taxes, allowing homeowners to exempt up to $250K through 2028, up from the current $50K. The bill drew criticism from municipalities that stand to lose millions of dollars in tax income, which they say could jeopardize their ability to fund services and infrastructure, including hospitals, police, parks, fire and water management. South Florida developer and billionaire Jorge Pérez warned its passage could threaten Miami’s ability to attract and retain residents, especially if budget cuts eat into city services.
New York
PASSED, 63-37: Ballot Proposal 1 — Public Spaces: The measure would streamline the process for changing the use of public space, including for outdoor dining, benches and ramps. It would remove mandatory hearings and modernize public notice requirements. It could cut the outdoor dining application process by about six months. About 82% of the vote has been counted so far.
PASSED, 62-38: Ballot Proposal 2 — City Contracting: The measure aims to make the city’s contracting process more efficient. It would simplify the application questionnaire for contractors hired to provide goods and services. It would also require the Procurement Policy Board, which sets rules for the contracting process, to meet quarterly. About 81% of the vote has been counted.
PASSED, 66-34: Ballot Proposal 3 — Approval Processes: The measure would speed up the review process for the sale or lease of certain small, city-owned lots. It would also remove hearing requirements and approvals for the city’s acquisition of office space for its workers.
PASSED, 68-32: Ballot Proposal 4 — Simplifying Permitting: The measure would create a centralized system for permitting, consolidating 40 separate approvals from 18 offices and agencies into one hub. It aims to streamline the process for builders seeking construction permits so they don’t have to file documents with multiple city agencies.
PASSED, 72-38: Ballot Proposal 5 — Rainy Day Funds: The measure would set the contribution goal for the city’s rainy day fund at at least 12% of the previous year’s tax revenue. The fund now has $2B, just 2% of last year’s revenue. The fund allows the city to set aside reserves in case of financial downturns or emergencies.
This is a developing story and will be updated as results come in.
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