OpenSecrets PACs Scraper
Pricing
from $19.00 / 1,000 results
OpenSecrets PACs Scraper
Scrapes Political Action Committee records from OpenSecrets for any election cycle from 1990 to 2026. Returns each PAC with its name, total receipts, total disbursements, and cash on hand.
Pricing
from $19.00 / 1,000 results
Rating
0.0
(0)
Developer
ParseForge
Maintained by CommunityActor stats
0
Bookmarked
2
Total users
1
Monthly active users
5 days ago
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OpenSecrets PACs Scraper
Scrape Political Action Committee data from OpenSecrets for any election cycle, up to a million PACs per run. Each PAC comes with its name, total receipts, spending, and cash on hand. No API key required. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.
Tracking PAC money across election cycles means digging through OpenSecrets manually or building a custom scraper. This Actor reads the public PAC directory directly, filtered by election cycle, and returns each committee in one fixed schema. You get the financial totals without writing a single line of code.
| Who uses it | What they scrape OpenSecrets for |
|---|---|
| Campaign finance researchers | Compare PAC fundraising and spending across multiple election cycles. |
| Journalists | Pull the latest PAC financials for a story on political spending. |
| Nonprofits and watchdogs | Monitor which PACs are raising the most money in a given cycle. |
| Political consultants | Identify well-funded PACs for potential outreach or partnership. |
What it does
This Actor collects Political Action Committee records from OpenSecrets by election cycle and returns each one as a flat row.
- 🗳️ Election cycle filter: pick any cycle from 1990 to 2026 and get the PACs active in that period.
- 📊 Financial totals: each record includes total receipts, total disbursements, and cash on hand.
- 📦 Bulk collection: set a high maxItems to pull thousands of PACs in a single run.
Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.
What you can do with OpenSecrets data
🗳️ Compare PAC finances across cycles.
A researcher runs the Actor for 2020, 2022, and 2024, then merges the datasets to see how fundraising trends changed.
📰 Build a story on political money.
A journalist scrapes the current cycle, sorts by total receipts, and identifies the top ten PACs for an article.
📈 Monitor fundraising leaders.
A watchdog group runs the Actor weekly for the 2026 cycle to track which PACs are pulling ahead in contributions.
🎯 Find well-funded PACs.
A consultant scrapes the 2024 cycle, filters for PACs with high cash on hand, and builds a prospect list.
Why choose this scraper
| What you get | |
|---|---|
| No API key | Reads the public OpenSecrets PAC directory directly. |
| Fixed schema | Every PAC returns the same fields, ready for analysis. |
| Bulk exports | Save results as CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML. |
How it compares
No other Store actor targets OpenSecrets the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.
| OpenSecrets PACs Scraper | Build it in-house | By hand | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | Run it now, zero config | Days of engineering | None, but hours per pull |
| When OpenSecrets changes | Maintained for you | You fix it | You re-learn the page |
| Proxies, retries, anti-bot | Built in | Your problem | Browser only |
| Output | Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export | Whatever you build | Copy-paste |
| Cost | Pay per result | Engineering time | Analyst hours |
Configure the run
Drive the Actor by election cycle and a maximum item count, and filters run as each PAC is read so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.
A first run with the defaults:
A larger pull:
Pricing
Pay-per-result: $0.021 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.
| Results collected | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 100 results | $2.10 |
| 1,000 results | $21.00 |
| 10,000 results | $210.00 |
New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.
Free users
Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.
Run it
- Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
- Open the OpenSecrets PACs Scraper.
- Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
- Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.
Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.
Use with AI agents (MCP)
Give an AI agent live access to OpenSecrets through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:
Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.
Troubleshooting
Why am I getting no results?
Check that the election cycle you selected has data. Older cycles may have fewer PACs. Also, increase the maxItems value in case the default is too low.
The run stopped before reaching maxItems.
The Actor stops when it has scraped all available PACs for the selected cycle. Try a different cycle or verify that OpenSecrets is reachable.
Some PACs are missing financial totals.
OpenSecrets may not have complete financial data for every PAC in every cycle. Missing values appear as empty fields in the dataset.
The run timed out.
Large maxItems values can take time. Increase the run timeout in the Apify actor settings, or reduce maxItems and run multiple batches.
I see an error about the website being blocked.
The Actor respects OpenSecrets' robots.txt and uses polite delays. If you hit a block, wait a few minutes and try again, or reduce the maxItems to lighten the load.
FAQ
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is a PAC in this dataset? | A Political Action Committee registered with the FEC and tracked by OpenSecrets. The Actor returns its name, total receipts, total disbursements, and cash on hand for the selected election cycle. |
| Which election cycles can I scrape? | You can choose any cycle from 1990 through 2026. The default is 2024. |
| Do I need an OpenSecrets API key? | No. The Actor reads the public PAC directory pages, so no registration or key is required. |
| How many PACs can I collect in one run? | You set the maximum with the maxItems field, up to 1,000,000. The Actor stops when it reaches that number or runs out of PACs for the cycle. |
| What format does the data come in? | The default dataset is JSON. You can also export to CSV, Excel, or XML from the Apify run console. |
| Does this Actor get individual donor names? | No. This Actor scrapes the PAC summary directory. For individual donations, you need a different scraper that targets donor records. |
| Can I filter by PAC type or industry? | The current version filters by election cycle only. You can apply additional filtering on the exported dataset using a tool like Excel or Python. |
| How often is the OpenSecrets data updated? | OpenSecrets updates its PAC data regularly as new FEC filings come in. Run the Actor on a schedule to capture the latest numbers. |
| Is this Actor affiliated with OpenSecrets? | No. This is an independent scraper built by a third party. It is not endorsed by or affiliated with OpenSecrets. |
| Can I run this Actor on a schedule? | Yes. Apify supports scheduled runs. Set it to run weekly or monthly to track PAC finances over time. |
Related actors
Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.
🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.
⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by OpenSecrets. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.
