--- license: other license_name: public-domain license_link: https://www.fec.gov/data/browse-data/?tab=bulk-data task_categories: - tabular-classification - tabular-regression tags: - campaign-finance - fec - elections - political-donations - pac - lobbying - duckdb - government-data - politics - united-states pretty_name: FEC Campaign Finance Database size_categories: - 100M 0 GROUP BY 1, 2 ORDER BY total DESC LIMIT 10; ``` ### Python ```python import duckdb con = duckdb.connect() con.sql("INSTALL httpfs; LOAD httpfs;") con.sql(\"\"\" ATTACH 'https://huggingface.co/datasets/Nason/fec-database/resolve/main/fec.duckdb' AS fec (READ_ONLY) \"\"\") con.sql("SELECT * FROM fec._metadata").show() ``` DuckDB uses HTTP range requests, so only the pages needed for your query are downloaded. ## Tables | Table | Description | Rows | Cols | Cycles | |-------|-------------|------|------|--------| | `individual_contributions` | Every individual donation: name, employer, occupation, amount, date | 280,827,680 | 22 | 2004-2026 | | `committee_to_committee` | Transfers between committees | 48,118,471 | 22 | 2004-2026 | | `operating_expenditures` | Committee operating expenditures: payee, purpose, amount | 19,725,971 | 26 | 2004-2026 | | `committee_contributions` | PAC/party contributions to candidates | 5,304,857 | 23 | 2004-2026 | | `independent_expenditures` | Independent expenditures for/against candidates | 602,587 | 24 | 2010-2026 | | `committees` | Committee master: name, type, party, treasurer, connected org | 185,471 | 16 | 2004-2026 | | `candidates` | Candidate master: name, party, office, state, district, status | 76,692 | 16 | 2004-2026 | | `candidate_committee_links` | Which committees are authorized by which candidates | 74,481 | 8 | 2004-2026 | | `communication_costs` | Internal communications supporting/opposing candidates | 25,631 | 26 | 2010-2026 | | `electioneering_communications` | Broadcast ads mentioning candidates near elections | 1,589 | 20 | 2010-2026 | ## Pre-built Views | View | Description | |------|-------------| | `v_candidate_totals` | Candidate fundraising totals from individual contributions | | `v_top_donors` | Aggregated donor activity across all cycles | | `v_pac_to_candidate` | PAC-to-candidate contributions with org names | | `v_daily_donations` | Daily donation volume and amounts | ## Data Source [Federal Election Commission](https://www.fec.gov/data/browse-data/?tab=bulk-data). Bulk data files are public domain and updated weekly. ## License Database build code: MIT. Underlying data: public domain (U.S. government records). ## GitHub Full source code, build instructions, and example queries: [github.com/ian-nason/fec-database](https://github.com/ian-nason/fec-database) # Changelog ## 2026-09-14 — Data refresh (FEC bulk files as of 2026-09-14) - Rebuilt from the FEC bulk downloads for all 12 cycles (2004-2026). Total rows 347,171,337 → 354,943,430: `individual_contributions` 280,827,680, `committee_to_committee` 48,118,471, `operating_expenditures` 19,725,971, `committee_contributions` 5,304,857, `independent_expenditures` 602,587 (74,486 superseded amendment versions removed at build time). - The July audit's repairs are now regression checks in the build: standalone table dates > 85% non-null, `CALCULATED_CANDIDATE_SHARE` typed DOUBLE, one `v_candidate_totals` row per (cycle, committee), `v_pac_to_candidate` limited to 24K/24Z, conduit (24T) rows excluded from totals, and all 12 cycles present (a silently skipped download would otherwise drop a cycle). A failing check aborts the build with a non-zero exit. - DuckDB memory capped (default 6 GB, run at 4 GB / 2 threads for this build) with `DATAPOND_MEMORY_LIMIT` / `DATAPOND_THREADS` overrides; `continue_build.py` uses the same settings. File size 37.7 → 35.2 GB (insertion order no longer preserved, which compresses better). `publish_to_hf.py --card-only`. - Caveats unchanged: prank filings remain (treat single contributions > $5M as suspect); upstream dates range from year 0677 to 9206; `CAND_ID` resolves for ~95-99% of rows. ## 2026-07-06 — Full refresh + data-quality audit Rebuilt from current FEC bulk downloads (cycles 2004-2026) and repaired after an independent SQL-verified audit. **Data changes** - 347,171,337 rows across 10 tables (previous published build: 339.5M). - Cycle 2020 individual contributions complete at 69,352,160 rows. - `independent_expenditures`: 74,030 superseded amendment versions removed — only the latest version of each filing is kept (2022 IE total dropped from $46.9B to $33.6B; remaining inflation is upstream prank filings, see caveats). **Fixes** - Standalone-table dates now parse (previously 100% NULL): `independent_expenditures` (DD-MON-YY), `communication_costs` (YYYYMMDD), `electioneering_communications` (DD-MON-YY, amounts now numeric). - All four views rebuilt with correct money semantics: conduit rows (`TRANSACTION_TP = '24T'`, the ActBlue/WinRed double count worth 14-22% of every cycle since 2018) excluded; refunds (20Y/21Y/22Y, stored as positive amounts) netted out; memo rows excluded. - `v_candidate_totals` aggregates per principal campaign committee, so candidates sharing a committee (Biden/Harris 2024) no longer fan out into double-counted rows. - `v_pac_to_candidate` is direct contributions only (24K/24Z) — it previously counted independent expenditures *against* a candidate as support. **Known caveats** (see the README's "How to sum money correctly") - Upstream prank filings remain in `independent_expenditures` (e.g. a $10B "COMMITTEE 300" row) — treat amounts above ~$5M as suspect anywhere. - A few thousand rows carry wild dates (years 0677-9206); clamp to the cycle window before bucketing. - Recent-cycle `committee_contributions.CAND_ID` values fail to resolve to same-cycle candidates at 1-5% (FEC master-file churn).