All candidates file description

The all candidates file contains summary financial information for each candidate who raised or spent money during the period, regardless of when they are up for election.

The file has one record per candidate and shows information about the candidate, total receipts, transfers received from authorized committees, total disbursements, transfers given to authorized committees, cash-on-hand totals, loans and debts, and other financial summary information. The end-of-line (EOL) marker is line feed '\n' (LF, 0x0A, 10 in decimal).

Data timing

This file is completely dependent on summary information reported by the campaign. The time period covered by this file may be more recent than other data files (like the post-cycle candidate summary file). During the primary election season, the period covered may be different for candidates in different states, depending on their primary dates. Since the data is timelier, some of the information in this file is less precise than information in the post-cycle candidate summary file. For example, breakouts by special interest group code are not possible.

Double-counted financial activity

A candidate’s financial summary may have double-counted financial activity. If a candidate has more than one committee authorized to raise and spend funds on their behalf, the activity in this file combines these committees. If the committees transfer funds back and forth to each other, this activity would be counted twice. Information about “transfers to authorized committees” and “transfers from authorized committees” is included in the file. If there are values in both of these fields, subtract these from the total receipts and total disbursements for a more accurate value of the candidate’s total activity.

All candidates file format