SD Data Center TransparencyVolunteer

General election · 3 November 2026

State House, District 23

3 candidates on the ballot, listed in certified ballot order.

Race type
Contested
Candidates
3
Surveys returned
0 of 3
Race receipts
$5,500

Dick Werner

Not a sitting legislator

RepublicanBallot order 1

Where they stand on data centers

Nothing on record.Dick has never held legislative office, so there are no roll calls to score.

Survey: no response recorded

With no voting record and no returned questionnaire, this page has nothing from them on data centers. Voters have no stated position to weigh.

Ask them to answer

Money — a signal, never a position

$4,550Total receipts reported
—Matched a flag (A–D)

No itemized donors filed. That is not the same as having raised nothing.

Committee: Dick Werner For State House-district 23.

A flag means a donor matched a category. It is not a finding that anything improper happened.

How to reach them

Share this card

Spencer Gosch

Spencer Gosch

Sitting legislator

RepublicanBallot order 2

Where they stand on data centers

80%protective votes — 4 of 5 tracked roll calls

Stood with residents

Survey: no response recorded

The position above is drawn from roll-call votes only. This candidate has not answered the questionnaire in their own words.

Ask them to answer

Money — a signal, never a position

$950Total receipts reported
—Matched a flag (A–D)

No itemized donors filed. That is not the same as having raised nothing.

Committee: Spencer Gosch For South Dakota.

A flag means a donor matched a category. It is not a finding that anything improper happened.

How to reach them

Share this card

Garett Heinz

Not a sitting legislator

IndependentBallot order 3

Where they stand on data centers

Nothing on record.Garett has never held legislative office, so there are no roll calls to score.

Survey: no response recorded

With no voting record and no returned questionnaire, this page has nothing from them on data centers. Voters have no stated position to weigh.

Money — a signal, never a position

$0Total receipts reported
—Matched a flag (A–D)

No itemized donors filed. That is not the same as having raised nothing.

Committee: Finance Committee For Garett Heinz.

A flag means a donor matched a category. It is not a finding that anything improper happened.

Share this card

What the flags mean

A · Data center and Big Tech
The industry itself, its lobbyists, and the trade group that testified for the 50-year tax break.
B · Utility, power and energy
Utilities, generators, transmission and the ethanol bloc — interests whose revenue rises with data center load.
C · The PAC funnel
Money arriving through a political action committee rather than directly.
D · Named individuals
People named in the underlying investigation.
E and F · Outside money
Large national spending and independent expenditure made for a candidate. Never the candidate’s own money, and never added to their receipts.

How the score is built

Roll calls on 2026 data center bills are tracked. A vote counts as protective when it sided with residents on cost, water, or local control.

Candidates with no legislative service have no score. That is shown as an absence, never as a zero.

Full roll calls and bill text: the legislative scorecard.

Correct the record

Every figure here traces to a state-published filing. If something is wrong, we want to fix it fast.

Candidates may submit a questionnaire response at any time; it is published verbatim beside the voting record.

Email corrections through the Elections page.