Dark Money and Data Centers
“It has been said that Montana is a cheap date. Outside big money hand-picks candidates with dubious connections to Montana, finances them with unlimited campaign donations, and we end up with senators and representatives who work for the dark money billionaires, not for us.“
Gilles Stockton & Tess Fahlgren
August 27, 2026
There will be two initiatives on Montana’s ballot this November of critical importance. The Non-Partisan Judges Initiative (CI-132) would amend the Montana Constitution to ensure that our courts do not become captured by political extremists. Currently, judges run as non-partisans, but in 2025 the Legislature tried, through a number of parliamentary tactics, to make our courts overtly political. A faction in the Montana Legislature, backed by outside money, is determined to turn the courts into political circuses and will try again in the 2027 legislative session. This is why nonpartisan judicial elections must be part of the Montana Constitution. We need judges who are competent and fair, not “bought and paid for” political hacks.
The second initiative, the Montana Transparent Elections Plan (I-194), will stop corporate dark money from buying our elections. We are all sick of political attack ads that flood our airways and clog our mailboxes every election season. I-194 will help put a stop to outside-monied interests from interfering in our affairs.
Both initiatives are our opportunity to begin to return integrity in our political system. This is especially important today as we face yet another threat to our sovereignty. The proposed data center to be built at Broadview, Montana, just north of Billings, has created a hailstorm of concern and growing opposition. If built, it will cover 5000 acres, require seven times more electricity than is currently needed for all of Montana, and get water for cooling from no one knows where.
Quantica, the company proposing to build this data center, required county and local officials who met for initial discussions to sign nondisclosure agreements. The documentation they submitted to the Public Service Commission was heavily redacted so that those of us who will have to live with the consequences remain in the dark. In order to ensure that Montana citizens could not question the construction of data centers, the billionaires behind artificial intelligence convinced the 2025 Montana Legislature to pass the “Right to Compute Act.”
We have every reason to be concerned and absolutely need answers. Where will the electricity come from, and will our bills go up? Where will the water come from? Where will all of the generated heat go, and what will be the effect on the environment and climate? And who is responsible when the whole scheme goes belly up, because big companies always loot the assets before declaring bankruptcy and walking away from their messes?
If the money people behind the Quantica data center intend to be responsible neighbors, they need to hop into their private jets and come to rural Montana to answer questions – eye to eye – with the people who shall be living with the consequences.
This is more than a “not in my backyard” issue. The “need” for data centers is fueled by the explosion of artificial intelligence (AI), which has been orchestrated by tech companies that push AI onto us from every angle. While we are distracted by the casual convenience of AI-powered tools, like ChatGPT, our government has been building a complex AI-powered surveillance system capable of monitoring our every move. The tech billionaires boast that AI will eliminate a wide variety of job sectors, but give no answer, nor seem to care, as to the fate of the newly unemployed. Artificial Intelligence is a powerful tool with obvious potential. But it also may be incredibly dangerous and, right now, it is totally unregulated and wielded by a handful of billionaires who seemingly care little about people or America, beyond the fact that this is a great place to accumulate money with impunity.
It has been said that Montana is a cheap date. Outside big money hand-picks candidates with dubious connections to Montana, finances them with unlimited campaign donations, and we end up with senators and representatives who work for the dark money billionaires, not for us. Because we are rural and not particularly financially well off, corporations like Quantica assume they can take our land, our water, and our already expensive electricity to build a data center without asking our opinion on the matter.
For the rest of this summer, we shall be bombarded with dark-money political ads making outlandish claims to convince us to vote against the Montana Transparent Elections Plan and the Non-Partisan Judges Initiative. While the topics are complex, they are important if we are to retain our political sovereignty. Both I-194 and CI-132 deserve all of our support.
Gilles Stockton
Stockton Ranch
Grass Range, Montana
406 428-2183
gillesstockton@gmail.com