SD Data Center TransparencyVolunteer

General election · 3 November 2026

State House, District 9

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

Race type
Contested
Candidates
3
Surveys returned
1 of 3
Race receipts
$22,474
Tesa Schwans

Tesa Schwans

Sitting legislator

RepublicanBallot order 1

Where they stand on data centers

100%protective votes — 3 of 3 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.

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Money — a signal, never a position

$11,730Total receipts reported
—Matched a flag (A–D)

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

Committee: Tesa Schwans For District 9 House.

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

How to reach them

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Megan Tschetter

Megan Tschetter

Not a sitting legislator

RepublicanBallot order 2

Where they stand on data centers

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

Survey: responded

“Citizens are concerned about the enormous strain hyperscale data centers can place on local power grids, water resources, infrastructure, and taxpayers — especially when government subsidies or special incentives are involved. Many are also concerned that South Dakota land and communities could be transformed in ways similar to what people are seeing happen around large-scale data center development in places like Ellendale, North Dakota. ”
“I think people just want to know their communities are being listened to before massive projects get pushed through. I’d want to make sure local citizens actually have a voice, that taxpayers aren’t subsidizing billion-dollar companies, and that we fully understand the impact on our land, water, power grid, and infrastructure before moving forward with anything. South Dakota shouldn’t lose its way of life because of outside interests chasing profit.”
Published verbatim as submitted

Money — a signal, never a position

$3,446Total receipts reported
—Matched a flag (A–D)

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

Committee: Friends Of Megan Tschetter.

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

How to reach them

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Amanda Potter

Not a sitting legislator

DemocratBallot order 3

Where they stand on data centers

Nothing on record.Amanda 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

$7,298Total receipts reported
—Matched a flag (A–D)

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

Committee: Citizens For Amanda Potter.

Receipts were collected by hand from the filed forms, so this lists only the donors that matched a flag, not the full itemized list. A flag means a donor matched a category. It is not a finding that anything improper happened.

How to reach them

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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.