# FEC Campaign Finance Scraper - Candidate Totals (`thirdwatch/fec-campaign-finance-scraper`) Actor

Search federal candidates and export committee identity plus aggregate receipts, spending, cash, debt, and cycle coverage without individual contributor records.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/thirdwatch/fec-campaign-finance-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Thirdwatch](https://apify.com/thirdwatch) (community)
- **Categories:** Education, Business
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## FEC Campaign Finance Scraper

> Export structured public OpenFEC candidate aggregate-finance records for discovery, comparison, monitoring, and governance.

### What you get

Search the public OpenFEC catalog and save one deduplicated row per candidate aggregate-finance record. Results include candidate identity, office, state, party, election years, principal committee identity, totals availability, cycle coverage, aggregate receipts, aggregate contributions, spending, cash, and debt. Use discovery inputs for market maps and exact-name inputs, when available, for stable monitoring cohorts.

### Output fields

| Field group | Description |
|---|---|
| Identity | Canonical `candidateId`, display name, and source URL. |
| Time evidence | Effective, filing, award, report, or catalog dates when published by the source. |
| Measures and status | Public amounts, counts, scores, or status evidence available from the source. |
| Ownership and links | Public organization, agency, product, committee, artist, or source references. |
| Classification | Public tags, categories, keywords, packaging, or status values. |
| Provenance | Search query and named upstream source for traceable analysis. |

### Example output

```json
{"candidateId":"S8FL00216","name":"BARTLETT, HAMILTON ALLEN SMITH","office":"Senate","party":"REP","totalsStatus":"available","receipts":3852434.85,"disbursements":831532.74,"totalsCycle":2026,"source":"Federal Election Commission public data"}
```

### Input parameters

| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `queries` | No | Up to five candidate-name searches. |
| `candidateIds` | No | Up to 25 exact FEC candidate IDs. |
| `cycle` | Yes | Even-numbered election cycle. |
| `state` | No | Optional state code. |
| `office` | No | House, Senate, or President. |
| `party` | No | Optional FEC party code. |
| `includeTotals` | No | Add cycle-level aggregate finance. |
| `apiKey` | No | Optional OpenFEC key; DEMO\_KEY is the fallback. |
| `maxResultsPerQuery` | Yes | Maximum candidates per name. |
| `maxResults` | Yes | Maximum unique candidates saved. |

At least one discovery or exact-name input is required. Result limits apply after cross-input deduplication, and only saved unique rows are charged.

### Use cases

- **Developers:** discover alternatives and compare public release evidence.
- **Platform teams:** monitor versions, tags, compatibility, and activity for a fixed portfolio.
- **Security teams:** build an evidence inventory before joining vulnerability and deployment data.
- **Product researchers:** map a developer ecosystem with repeatable queries and dated snapshots.

### Limitations

The Actor never calls individual-contributor endpoints and removes treasurer, agent, phone, and address fields. With the shared DEMO\_KEY, candidate discovery uses the official FEC cycle candidate-master file; supplied keys use live OpenFEC search. Totals depend on filing coverage and amendments. Each row reports totalsStatus, and a private OpenFEC key supports steadier enrichment at scale.

### Compared to alternatives

Current Apify Store alternatives include automation-lab/fec-campaign-finance-scraper and easyapi/fec-candidate-scraper. Thirdwatch combines discovery and bounded monitoring inputs where the source permits them, saves canonical evidence URLs, deduplicates before charging, provides exactly four PPE tiers, and ships ten ready-to-save Task recipes plus a five-article workflow library. Compare current Store listings directly because competitor features and pricing can change.

### FAQ

#### Does this Actor access private packages or accounts?

No. It collects only metadata available from the public source and does not sign in, bypass access controls, or request private registry credentials.

#### How should I monitor a fixed portfolio?

Use exact names where supported, keep result limits explicit, save the input as an Apify Task, and retain dated datasets. Do not let an empty or failed run overwrite the previous successful snapshot.

#### Does a public record prove the final conclusion?

No. Public-source records are evidence for analysis, not the analysis itself. Keep provenance, apply documented rules separately, and require qualified review for high-stakes decisions.

#### Where can I find more workflows?

Visit [Thirdwatch public-data scrapers](https://thirdwatch.dev/scrapers/fec-campaign-finance-scraper) and other Thirdwatch Actors, including [GitHub](https://apify.com/thirdwatch/github-repositories-scraper?fpr=9m2cd6), [npm](https://apify.com/thirdwatch/npm-package-scraper?fpr=9m2cd6), and [OSV](https://apify.com/thirdwatch/osv-vulnerability-scraper?fpr=9m2cd6) Actors.

Last verified: 2026-07

# Actor input Schema

## `queries` (type: `array`):

Names to search across public federal candidate registrations.

## `candidateIds` (type: `array`):

Optional exact FEC candidate IDs for stable monitoring cohorts.

## `cycle` (type: `integer`):

Even-numbered election cycle used for candidate records and aggregate totals.

## `state` (type: `string`):

Optional two-letter state code.

## `office` (type: `string`):

Optional office code: H, S, or P.

## `party` (type: `string`):

Optional FEC party code such as DEM, REP, or IND.

## `includeTotals` (type: `boolean`):

Enrich candidates with cycle-level aggregate receipts, spending, cash, and debt. Individual contributors are never returned.

## `apiKey` (type: `string`):

Optional api.data.gov key for higher limits. Leave blank to use DEMO\_KEY.

## `maxResultsPerQuery` (type: `integer`):

Maximum candidates requested for each query.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum unique candidate records saved across all inputs.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "queries": [
    "Smith"
  ],
  "candidateIds": [],
  "cycle": 2026,
  "office": "",
  "includeTotals": true,
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 25,
  "maxResults": 100
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("thirdwatch/fec-campaign-finance-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("thirdwatch/fec-campaign-finance-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call thirdwatch/fec-campaign-finance-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,thirdwatch/fec-campaign-finance-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/yA5mvJ6I6i9H7DhJU/builds/P7DWecZox81PMuHyU/openapi.json