About
Stephanie Sauder earned a B.S. in education from Dakota State University in 1990 and an M.S. in K-12 educational leadership and administration from Northern State University in 2012. Sauder's career experience includes working as a K-12 educator with the Hamlin School District, a training officer with the South Dakota Department of Education, and a newspaper editor with the Hamlin Co. Herald Enterprise. She served as the mayor of Bryant, South Dakota.
Background sourced from Ballotpedia.
Note
Co-Sponsored tax breaks for data centers. Received PAC contributions from Ottertail Corporation PAC who lobbied in Pierre for 50 year tax breaks for data centers and against all resident protections. Received PAC contributions from South Dakota Public Power PAC, & Northwestern Energy Employees PAС. Several energy companies lobbied in Pierre for tax breaks for data centers this past legislative session.
Voting record
On 2026-session data center bills · Senate record
allow the Public Utilities Commission to assess actual costs to data centers that are customers of public utilities.
protect residents from increased utility costs and utility shortages caused by data centers and clarify authority to regulate data centers.
modify provisions relating to the reinvestment payment program, and relating to the purchasing of goods and services used by projects approved for the reinvestment payment program.
provide a sales and use tax exemption for goods and services related to data center operations.
Campaign money
Money is a signal, never a position. A flag below means a donor matched a category. It is not a finding that anything improper happened.
Sauder for Senate
The itemised donations on file add up to $18,175, while the summary figure collected for Stephanie Sauder is $7,925. The two have not been reconciled, most likely because they cover different filing periods. Both are shown rather than choosing one.
Flagged contributions to their own committee
- BUtility, power and energy interests$1,250
- CThe PAC funnel$1,000
Money spent by others
This is not Stephanie Sauder’s money and was not received by their campaign. A candidate does not control independent expenditure made on their behalf, and may not want it.
- FIndependent expenditure spent for them$32,244
Flagged donors, largest first
- SD Ethanol Producers PAC $1,000
- Dusty PAC $500
- Pac'n Heat 2.0 $500
- Steve Willard $250
Every itemised contribution on file (36)›
| South Dakota Epic | $2,500 |
| SD Retailers Association PAC | $1,000 |
| SD Public Power PAC | $1,000 |
| Dakota Legacy PAC | $1,000 |
| Margie Thoreson | $1,000 |
| SD Ethanol Producers PAC | $1,000 |
| Northwestern Energy Employees PAC | $500 |
| Cynthia Frederick | $500 |
| Richard Wiarda | $500 |
| BNSF Railway Company | $500 |
| Dakota Conservative PAC | $500 |
| SD State Medical Association PAC | $500 |
| SODAK-D-PAC SD Dental Association | $500 |
| SD Bankers PAC | $500 |
| Dusty PAC | $500 |
| SDAHO PAC | $500 |
| 605 Victory PAC | $500 |
| Deadwood Tourism PAC | $500 |
| Pac'n Heat 2.0 | $500 |
| (UNITEMIZED - gifts of $100 or less; no donor names required) | $375 |
| SD SOYPAC | $350 |
| SD Pork Producers Council Pork PAC | $300 |
| Tim Reed | $250 |
| SD CREDIT UNION PAC | $250 |
| South Dakota Insurance Alliance | $250 |
| COTEL | $250 |
| WELLPAC | $250 |
| Leland & Gail Roe | $250 |
| MAYPAC | $250 |
| Altria Client Services LLC | $250 |
| Steve Willard | $250 |
| North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters PAC | $250 |
| South Dakota Farm Bureau PAC | $200 |
| Tim Dougherty | $200 |
| Ottertail Corporation PAC | $150 |
| SD Petroleum and Propane Marketers PAC | $100 |
Collected via manual pull (verified). Contributor names appear exactly as the committee filed them. Donor addresses are not published.
Other candidates in this race
State Senate · District 04