This file contains one record for each committee registered with the Federal Election Commission. This includes federal political action committees and party committees, campaign committees for presidential, house and senate candidates, as well as groups or organizations who are spending money for or against candidates for federal office. The file contains basic information about the committees. The ID number the Commission assigned to the committee is first, along with the name of the committee, the sponsor, where appropriate, the treasurer's name and the committee's address. The file also includes information about what type of committee is being described, along with the candidate's ID number if it is a campaign committee.
The end-of-line (EOL) marker is line feed '\n' (LF, 0x0A, 10 in decimal). The Candidate Master File contains the following information:
| Column Name | Field Name | Position | Null? | Data Type | Description |
| CAND_ID |
Candidate Identification |
1 | N | VARCHAR2(9) |
A 9-character alpha-numeric code assigned to a candidate by the Federal Election Commission. The candidate ID for a specific candidate remains the same across election cycles as long as the candidate is running for the same office. |
| CAND_NAME |
Candidate Name |
2 | Y | VVARCHAR2(200) |
|
| CAND_PTY_AFFILIATION |
Party Affiliation |
3 | Y | VARCHAR2(3) |
The political party affiliation reported by the candidate. |
| CAND_ELECTION_YR |
Year of Election |
4 | Y | Number(4) |
Candidate's election year from a Statement of Candidacy or state ballot list. |
| CAND_OFFICE_ST |
Candidate State |
5 | Y | VARCHAR2(2) |
House = state of race President = US Seante = state of race |
| CAND_OFFICE |
Candidate Office |
6 | Y | VARCHAR2(1) |
H = House P = President S = Seante |
| CAND_OFFICE_DISTRICT |
Candidate District |
7 | Y | VARCHAR2(2) |
Congressional district number. Congressional At Large 00 Senate 00 Presidential 00 |
| CAND_ICI |
Incumbent Challenger Status |
8 | Y | VARCHAR2(1) |
C = Challenger I = Incumbent O = Open Seat is used to indicate an open seat. Open seats are defined as seats where the incumbent never sought re-election. |
| CAND_STATUS |
Candidate Status |
9 | Y | VARCHAR2(1) |
C = Statutory candidate F = Statutory candidate for future election N = Not yet a statutory candidate P = Statutory candidate in prior cycle |
| CAND_PCC |
Principal Campaign Committee |
10 | Y | VARCHAR2(9) |
The ID assigned by the Federal Election Commission to the candidate's principal campaign committee for a given election cycle. |
| CAND_ST1 |
Mailing Address - Street |
11 | Y | VARCHAR2(34) |
Mailing Address - Street |
| CAND_ST2 |
Mailing Address - Street2 |
12 | Y | VARCHAR2(34) |
Mailing Address - Street2 |
| CAND_CITY |
Mailing Address - City |
13 | Y | VARCHAR2(30) |
Mailing Address - City |
| CAND_ST |
Mailing Address - State |
14 | Y | VARCHAR2(2) |
Mailing Address - State |
| CAND_ZIP |
Mailing Address - Zip Code |
15 | Y | VARCHAR2(9) |
Mailing Address - Zip Code |
