This file contains information for each candidate who has registered with the FEC or appears on an official state ballot for an election to the U.S. House of Representatives or U.S. Senate during 2009 or 2010 (including special elections).
Financial information for each candidate represents the sum of all reports filed by the principal campaign committee and any other committees specifically authorized by the candidate to raise and spend funds for their election. The totals cover the time period from January 1 of the non-election year through the most recent report submitted by these committees.
The record (row) for each campaign contains information, updated nightly, based upon reports either received (for House electronic filings) or computerized (for Senate paper filings) through 7 pm the previous day. These totals also incorporate any changes made by committees if any report covering the period is amended.
Generally, congressional campaigns file reports on a quarterly basis, but they must also submit a report 12 days before their primary election. During the primary election season, therefore, the period covered by this file may be different for candidates in different states.
As part of each financial report, committees must provide a summary of their financial activity in each filing, and these summaries are combined for the full two year period to create these records.
The presentation here includes total receipts and total disbursements for the campaign along with the most recent cash-on-hand value and total debts owed by the campaign at the end of the most recent reporting period. To see an example of these reporting requirements you can look at the summary and detailed summary pages of the FEC Form 3. Detailed descriptions of each element in the file can be found in the line-by-line instructions.
Downloads for these data (XML or CSV links from the top of the list) include additional information taken from the summary pages of reports submitted by the campaign (e.g. contributions from individuals, loans from the candidate, etc.). All of the elements requested on pages 2-4 of the paper versions of these reports are included in the file.
The FEC has also created a blog to discuss features of these files and respond to your questions or comments.
The Candidate Summary contains the following information:
| Tag | Field Name | Data Type | Description | Range | Explanation |
| lin_ima | Link to list of reports for the committee | URI | List of all disclosure filings for this committee | Link to list of filings made directly by the candidate - mainly statements of candidacy for each election | |
| can_id | Candidate Id | Character | 9 characters | First character indicates office sought - H=House, S=Senate, P=Presidential. Columns 3-4 are the state abbreviation for Congressional candidates | |
| can_nam | Candidate Name | Character | Name of candidate | Max 90 characters | |
| can_off | Candidate Office | Text | office abbreviation | 1 character | P=President; S=Senate; H=House |
| can_off_sta | Candidate Office State | Character | Postal abbreviation for state | 2 characters | |
| can_off_dis | Candidate Office District | Number | District number for House candidates | 2 digits | |
| can_par_aff | Candidate Party Affiliation | Character | Party abbreviation | 3 characters | Dem=Democrat |
| can_inc_cha_ope_sea | Candidate Incumbent Challenger Open Seat | Character | Incumbent or challenger or open seat indicator | 10 characters | I=incumbent; C=challenger; O=open seat (where no incumbent sought reelection) |
| can_str1 | Candidate Street 1 | Text |
Street address | Provided by the candidate on a statement of candidacy | |
| can_str2 | Candidate Street 2 | Text | Generally suite number or other secondary address | ||
| can_cit | Candidate City | Text | City of mailing address | Note: mailing addresses are not necessarily within the district. Use Candidate Office State and Candidate Office District to specify the location of a campaign | |
| can_sta | Candidate State | Text | State of mailing address | ||
| can_zip | Candidate Zip | Number | Zip code of mailing address | 5 digits | |
| ind_ite_con | Individual Itemized Contribution | Currency | Sum of itemized contributions from individuals | Contributions must be itemized (i.e. listing specific information about the donor and the contribution) when the total given to the campaign from a single individual exceeds $200. | |
| ind_uni_con | Individual Unitemized Contribution | Currency | Sum of unitemized contributions from individuals | Total given to the campaign where specific information about the donors is not required because they have not given more than $200 | |
| ind_con | Individual Contribution | Currency | Total contributions from individuals | Sum of the previous two fields (i.e. ind_ite_con and ind_uni_con) | |
| par_com_con | Party Committee Contribution | Currency | Contributions from party committees | These must be itemized regardless of amount | |
| oth_com_con | Other Committee Contribution | Currency | Contributions from other committees | Mostly contributions from PACs, also includes contributions from other candidates. These also must be itemized regardless of amount | |
| can_con | Candidate Contribution | Currency | Contributions from the candidate him(her)self | ||
| tot_con | Total Contribution | Currency | Total contributions | Sum of the previous 4 fields (i.e. ind_con, par_com_con, oth_com_con and can_con) | |
| tra_fro_oth_aut_com | Transfer from other Authorized Committee | Currency | Candidates may have more than one committee working for their election (including jointfundraising committees). Transfers from others within the set appear here | ||
| can_loa | Candidate Loan | Currency | Loans received from the candidate | ||
| oth_loa | Other Loan | Currency | Other loans | Often from banks, but must be made in the normal course of business including interest rates and collateral. Loans from individuals are treated as contributions | |
| tot_loa | Total Loan | Currency | Sum of the previous 2 fields (i.e. can_loa and oth_loa) | ||
| off_to_ope_exp | Offsets to Operating Expenditure | Currency | e.g. refund of deposit for phone bank, etc. | ||
| off_to_fun | Offsets to Fundraising | Currency | Applies only for Presidential candidates receiving public matching funds in the primaries | ||
| off_to_leg_acc | Offsets to Legal Accounting | Currency | Applies only for Presidential candidates receiving public matching funds in the primaries | ||
| oth_rec | Other Receipts | Currency | e.g. interest on bank deposits, capital gains, etc. | ||
| tot_rec | Total Receipts | Currency | Sum of all receipt categories | ||
| ope_exp | Operating Expenditure | Currency | Total of normal operating expenditures. These must also be itemized when payments to a specific vendor exceed $200 | ||
| exe_leg_acc_dis | Exempt Legal Accounting Disbursement | Currency | Applies only for Presidential candidates receiving public matching funds in the primaries | ||
| fun_dis | Fundraising Disbursement | Currency | Applies only for Presidential candidates receiving public matching funds in the primaries | ||
| tra_to_oth_aut_com | Transfer to Other Authorized Committee | Currency | Candidates may have more than one committee working for their election (including jointfundraising committees). Transfers to others within the set appear here | ||
| can_loa_rep | Candidate Loan Repayment | Currency | Loan repayments to the candidate | ||
| oth_loa_rep | Other Loan Repayment | Currency | Loan repayments to banks or others | ||
| tot_loa_rep | Total Loan Repayment | Currency | Sum of the previous 2 fields (i.e. can_loa_rep and oth_loa_rep) | ||
| ind_ref | Individual Refund | Currency | Contribution refunds made to individuals | ||
| par_com_ref | Party Committee Refund | Currency | Contribution refunds made to parties | ||
| oth_com_ref | Other Committee Refund | Currency | Contribution refunds made to other committees | Mainly PACs or other candidates | |
| tot_con_ref | Total Contribution Refund | Currency | Sum of the previous 3 fields (i.e. ind_ref, par_com_ref and oth_com_ref) | ||
| oth_dis | Other Disbursement | Currency | e.g. donations to charity, contributions to state or local candidates, etc. | ||
| tot_dis | Total Disbursement | Currency | Sum of all disbursement categories | ||
| cas_on_han_beg_of_per | Cash on Hand Beginning of Period | Currency | Cash balance for the campaign at the start of the two-year period | ||
| cas_on_han_clo_of_per | Cash on Hand Close of Period | Currency | Ending cash balance on the most recent filing | ||
| net_con | Net Contribution | Currency | Sum of all contributions minus any contribution refunds | ||
| net_ope_exp | Net Operating Expenditure | Currency | Sum of all operating expenditures minus any offsets to those expenditures | ||
| deb_owe_by_com | Debt Owed by Committee | Currency | |||
| deb_owe_to_com | Debt Owed to Committee | Currency | |||
| cov_sta_dat | Coverage Start Date | Date |
MM/DD/YYYY | Beginning date for the first report during the two year period | |
| cov_end_dat | Coverage End Date | Date |
MM/DD/YYYY | Ending date of the most recent report |
