Data center opponents launch write-in campaigns in Billings state Senate district

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As data center politics reached a boiling point in Billings this month, the most tech-savvy Republican in the state Senate drew two opponents in his race to represent Billings Heights and Shepherd.

Sen. Daniel Zolnikov, R-Billings, is being campaigned against online and IRL by write-in candidates Cari Olson and Elijah Tidswell. The lawmaker’s last registered employer is Broad Reach Power, whose parent company, Houston, Texas-based EnCap Investments, is a stakeholder in Quantica Infrastructure, developer of a proposed data center near Broadview.

Before Olson and Tidswell registered their write-in campaigns, Zolnikov was unopposed, as neither Democrats nor Libertarians fielded candidates in Senate District 22.

Olson has nicknamed the incumbent “Data Center Danny” on Facebook. She’s been an outspoken critic of the proposed Broadview data center. And Olson has political experience working on Democratic campaigns in Billings. 

Tidswell, 22, is a local real estate agent who ran as a Republican against then-incumbent Democratic state Sen. Kathy Kelker in 2022. 

Opponents of the Quantica project have raised concerns ranging from water use to electricity rates. They organized a petition to pause data center development, but were unaware that the deadline for submitting signatures to county officials had been changed by the Legislature in 2025. Only after Quantica alerted the county to the deadline change was the new date observed and the petitions denied.

“He’s passing bills that help these data centers out massively,” Tidswell said of Zolnikov. “You have almost 15,000 people that signed a petition saying we want a voice in this process, and they’re just being ignored. I don’t think that’s becoming of a state senator.”

In 2025, the Legislature extended a reduced property tax rate to power plants constructed specifically to electrify data center facilities. The bill was carried by Zolnikov’s spouse, Katie, a Republican who serves in the House. 

“I used to be Data Security Dan,” Zolnikov said, referencing his reputation for carrying bills addressing cybercrime. He was also the legislator who a decade ago sold lawmakers on legalizing Uber, an early Montana step into the gig economy.

“The bill says, ‘if you build your own generation, you get the data center rate,” Zolnikov said of his wife’s bill. The actual tax rate for data centers was established about eight years ago in a bill carried by Rep. Ed Buttrey, R-Great Falls, he said. 

Sen. Zolnikov also carried a “right to compute” act in 2025, addressing artificial intelligence. That bill required that state regulations related to AI be centered on public health and safety, not on personal dislike of the technology. The bill applies to state regulation of data centers as well. 

Zolnikov said his challengers are likely to split the write-in vote. There’s only one write-in line per race on the ballot, regardless of how many write-in candidates there may be. 

Write-in campaigns for public office are rarely successful, but they do occasionally strike a nerve. Municipal races in West Yellowstone have been won by write-in candidates. Senate districts have about 22,000 residents. Zolnikov’s 2022 Senate race drew 7,400 voters, with Zolnikov picking up 66% of them.

People are agitated about data centers, Zolnikov said, adding that he’s added an extra security door to his home to prevent break-ins.