The files that can be downloaded from this page provide information from disclosure reports filed by PACs, Party Committees, and individuals or groups during the period from January 1, 2001 through December 31, 2004. Data are contained in excel files. Each file contains one or more "sheets" with discrete subsets of information, generally corresponding to the original source of the information. (For example, the independent expenditure file contains seperate sheets for transactions from FEC Form 3X, and from FEC Form 5.) The files contain FEC ID numbers for the committees or individuals who reported the expenditures, and may also contain FEC ID numbers for candidates to whom the contributions refer. Files including these ID numbers along with identifying information about the committees and candidates may also be downloaded from this page. If you have questions about the data please contact Bob Biersack at 202-694-1220 or bbiersack@fec.gov.
There are three sets of data available here:
Coordinated Party Expenditures - National and state party committees may make limited expenditures in coordination with their general election candidates for federal office. All transactions appearing on Schedule F or transactions that were identified as coordinated expenditures on Schedule B of FEC Form 3X are included in this dataset.
Independent Expenditures - Expenditures made by individuals, groups, or political committees that expressly advocate the election or defeat of a clearly identified federal candidate but are made independently of the candidate (i.e. involve no coordination with the campaign). These transactions are reported on Schedule E of FEC Form 3X, or on FEC Form 5. Any such transactions appearing in filings are included in this dataset.
In-kind Contributions from Registered Filers - Political committees who make in-kind contributions to candidates or other committees are required to report them on Schedule B of FEC Form 3X and to identify them as such. Transactions identified as contributions to federal candidates (i.e. those that appear in reference to line 23 of FEC Form 3X) and that have the term "in kind" appearing in either the disbursement description or as memo text in the transaction are included in this dataset. Transactions identified as "memo entries" have been deleted, in order to avoid duplication, as these transactions would appear twice in filings.
Committee Master File - ID numbers for each committee registered with the Commission along with the committee name, sponsor, and other basic information about the committee. For authorized campaign committees, the candidate's ID number is also included.
Candidate Master File - ID numbers for each candidate, along with name, state, district, party, and other basic information about the candidate
