FEC Data Scraper

Extract campaign finance data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) public API. Search candidates, political committees, campaign filings, and fundraising totals across all US federal elections.

Features

• Search FEC candidates by name, office, party, state, and election year
• Search political committees and PACs
• Retrieve campaign finance filings (F3P, F3X, etc.)
• Get fundraising totals: total receipts, disbursements, and cash on hand
• Covers presidential, senate, and house races from 1996 onwards
• Uses FEC public API (free DEMO_KEY by default; bring your own for higher limits)

Input

Field	Type	Description
mode	String	One of: searchCandidates, searchCommittees, searchFilings, searchTotals
searchQuery	String	Name or keyword to search (e.g. "Biden", "Trump")
office	String	Office filter: Any, President (P), Senate (S), House (H)
party	String	Party: DEM, REP, IND, LIB, GRE
electionYear	Integer	Election cycle year (e.g. 2024)
state	String	Two-letter US state code (e.g. "NY", "CA")
apiKey	String	FEC API key from api.data.gov (optional; default: DEMO_KEY)
maxItems	Integer	Maximum number of results (default: 50, max: 5,000)

Example Inputs

Search presidential candidates:

{
  "mode": "searchCandidates",
  "searchQuery": "Biden",
  "office": "P",
  "electionYear": 2024,
  "maxItems": 20
}

Search committees:

{
  "mode": "searchCommittees",
  "searchQuery": "progressive",
  "maxItems": 50
}

Search fundraising totals:

{
  "mode": "searchTotals",
  "searchQuery": "Trump",
  "office": "P",
  "electionYear": 2024,
  "maxItems": 10
}

Output

Candidate Records (recordType: "candidate")

Field	Type	Description
candidateId	String	FEC candidate ID (e.g. P80001571)
candidateName	String	Full name of the candidate
office	String	Office sought: P, S, or H
party	String	Party abbreviation
state	String	State of the race
district	String	House district (if applicable)
electionYears	Array	Election years the candidate has run
incumbentStatus	String	Challenger, Incumbent, or Open seat
cycles	Array	Election cycles
sourceUrl	String	FEC profile URL

Committee Records (recordType: "committee")

Field	Type	Description
committeeId	String	FEC committee ID
committeeName	String	Committee name
committeeType	String	Committee type code
committeeTypeFull	String	Full committee type description
organizationType	String	Organization type
party	String	Party affiliation
state	String	State of registration
treasurerName	String	Committee treasurer name
firstFileDate	String	Date of first filing
lastFileDate	String	Date of most recent filing
cycles	Array	Active election cycles
sourceUrl	String	FEC committee profile URL

Filing Records (recordType: "filing")

Field	Type	Description
filingId	Integer	FEC filing ID
formType	String	Form type (e.g. F3P, F3X)
filerName	String	Name of the filing entity
receiptDate	String	Date the FEC received the filing
coverageStartDate	String	Coverage period start
coverageEndDate	String	Coverage period end
totalReceipts	Float	Total receipts for the period
totalDisbursements	Float	Total disbursements
totalLoans	Float	Total loans received
netContributions	Float	Net contributions
sourceUrl	String	FEC filing detail URL

Totals Records (recordType: "total")

Field	Type	Description
candidateId	String	FEC candidate ID
candidateName	String	Candidate name
office	String	Office (P/S/H)
party	String	Party abbreviation
state	String	State
electionYear	Integer	Election year
cycle	Integer	Election cycle
totalReceipts	Float	Total money raised
totalDisbursements	Float	Total money spent
cashOnHandEnd	Float	Cash on hand at period end
coverageStartDate	String	Coverage start date
coverageEndDate	String	Coverage end date
sourceUrl	String	FEC candidate profile URL

Example Output Record

{
  "candidateId": "P80001571",
  "candidateName": "BIDEN, JOSEPH R JR",
  "office": "P",
  "party": "DEM",
  "state": "US",
  "electionYears": [2020, 2024],
  "incumbentStatus": "Incumbent",
  "cycles": [2020, 2022, 2024],
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.fec.gov/data/candidate/P80001571/",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-05-30T12:00:00+00:00",
  "recordType": "candidate"
}

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need an API key? No. The scraper uses the free DEMO_KEY by default, which allows 30 requests/minute and 50 requests/day. For unlimited access, register at api.data.gov.

How far back does the data go? FEC data covers elections from 1996 onwards. Use the electionYear filter to narrow results.

What is the difference between Filings and Totals? Filings are individual campaign finance report submissions. Totals aggregate receipts and disbursements across a candidate's full election cycle.

Can I search for PACs and Super PACs? Yes, use searchCommittees mode. PACs appear as committee type "N" (non-party non-qualified), Super PACs as type "O" (independent expenditure-only).

Why am I getting rate limit errors? The default DEMO_KEY has strict limits. Register a free personal key at api.data.gov and pass it via apiKey.