By Dan Lohrmann.
The 2026 midterm election results are mostly in, and the blue wave across the country was clear.But what do these results portend for federal, state and local cybersecurity and AI efforts?For initial background on election results, let’s start with this report from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) covering 2026 State Legislative Elections: The Results and What They Mean.The report leads with this: “Democrats had a big night on Tuesday, and the gains didn’t stop in Washington. Much of the national news focused on Democratic wins in Congress, but the party made substantial inroads in statehouses, flipping legislative chambers and governors’ offices across the country.” Jumping right into the cybersecurity mix, Forbes offered a piece entitled: The 2026 Midterms Could Reshape America’s Cybersecurity Future.Here’s an excerpt:“With Democrats controlling Congress and Republicans retaining the White House, the federal government is entering a period in which major legislative initiatives will require bipartisan cooperation.“That is not necessarily bad for cybersecurity. Protecting critical infrastructure, defending government systems, and safeguarding sensitive military information have historically attracted support from both political parties. Cyber threats do not distinguish between Republican and Democratic administrations, and America’s adversaries do not suspend their operations when Congress changes hands. …“The implications extend to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, federal cyber reporting requirements, government technology modernization, and the resources available to protect critical infrastructure.“The danger is not necessarily that either party will abandon cybersecurity. It is that disagreements over spending, regulatory authority, and government priorities could delay decisions that organizations must make today. …”On the day after the midterm elections, Government Technology published an article covering several key quotes from national leaders related to state government cybersecurity. That piece is What the 2026 Midterm Results May Signal for Technology.“But state technology leadership is not the only area likely to be impacted by these election results. At the federal level, the U.S. Senate and House majorities have flipped from Republican to Democrat. ‘NASCIO is hopeful that Democrats in Congress will hear the concerns of state governments when it comes to critical cybersecurity and technology needs,’ said Alex Whitaker, director of government affairs for the National Association of State CIOs (NASCIO), in an email, noting the limited resources available for state governments. “’We encourage Congress to quickly reauthorize and fund the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program, ensure that states can continue to regulate AI technology and enforce their AI laws, provide adequate support for cybersecurity upgrades and technology modernization efforts and treat states as partners in the efforts to secure America’s critical cyber infrastructure,’ Whitaker said.”DATA CENTERS AND AI TAKE A HITRegarding the building of data centers and AI oversight, there were clear messages from voters. Consider these headline stories:CNBC: Voters rebuff data centers in every ballot measure except one during the 2026 midterms – “41 data center-related ballot measures were up for a vote in the 2026 midterm elections in 10 states.”New York Times (NYT): Voters Rejected A.I. in the Midterms. Now Comes an Era of Scrutiny. – “After two years of little A.I. oversight, voters on Tuesday rejected data center projects and swept into office Democratic candidates who promised to regulate the technology.”Wired: The Results Are In: Voters Hate Data Centers – “From high-profile Senate races to local rezoning initiatives, data centers and their supporters did miserably on the ballot in the 2026 midterms.”Scientific American: The data center boom was on Tuesday ballots 41 times. It won once – “In the short term, investors got jittery on Wednesday, sending AI data center stocks tumbling. In the long term, the results lend weight to a prediction from OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer, Chris Lehane, that AI will be the defining issue of the 2028 presidential election.” Note: The article contains details on all of the 41 data center initiatives on ballots and wider implications and analysis.WALL STREET RALLIES AFTER ELECTION, FALLS NEXT DAYOn Wednesday after the election, the stock markets seemed to like the results and rallied strongly, but Thursday brought a big selloff. For more on that action, see this YouTube video:
WHAT ABOUT THE LAME-DUCK SESSION?There is a lot of speculation regarding what will and what will not happen before the new Congress is sworn in in January.IAPP reported: “Republicans have talked about wanting to get the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act done in the lame duck. Besides the possibilities of CISA 2015 being included in the bill, Nicholas Leiserson, senior vice president for policy at the Institute for Security and Technology, said the Senate version of the legislation has a pair of very noteworthy cyber provisions: a ‘very broad’ authorization for contractor-owned, contractor-operated offensive cyber operations, and a requirement that every artificial intelligence product sold to the Defense Department have an AI bill of materials. …”Breaking Defense wrote this piece: Republicans have a ticking clock. What can they get done on defense? “Republicans are under the gun to pass defense funding during the lame duck session following a crippling loss in midterm elections, but first they’ll have to square off against emboldened Democrats seeking to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and curb the Iran war.“With only five legislative weeks remaining in the year, GOP leaders may make a last ditch effort to pass party-line reconciliation funding and a fiscal 2027 budget before Democrats take control of the House and Senate in January, experts said. “The big problem: Democrats may not be willing to come to the table. …”FINAL THOUGHTSCybersecurity tends to be a bipartisan issue. Through all my years in government service, I have never seen anyone who wants to be hacked.I have also written a related article on what CISOs and other security leaders should be doing now during the transition of administrations, even if the same political party won the election.So what did not happen during this past week? There were plenty of pre-election fears regarding cyber attacks disrupting elections, voting machine issues and/or the integrity of various state elections being challenged. None of that came to fruition. (Note: some may call the unique situation revolving Alaska’s U.S. Senate race an election integrity issue, but that does not involve cybersecurity or counting ballots. Rather, it is about names on ballots and more.)Despite plenty of articles warning about deepfake advertising and worse during campaigns, election integrity themes were not front and center in 2026.Overall, security teams did an excellent job protecting elections this week. My congratulations to the teams nationwide performing the administration of elections and counting of votes, which went smoothly across most of the country.
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