Data.gov DPD
created Dec 08, 2011
updated Mar 08, 2012
The candidate master file includes one record for each candidate who has either registered with the Federal Election Commission or appeared on a ballot list prepared by a state elections office. The file contains basic information about the candidate, including name, party, whether the candidate is an incumbent, challenger, or involved in an open seat, address, state and district in which the candidate is running and the year of the election for which the candidate is registered. (Note that incumbent/challenger status is dynamic in the current election cycle and there may be delays in identifying districts that will involve open seats. Further, the definition of an open seat is one in which the incumbent never sought reelection. Therefore, districts where incumbents lose primaries are not classified as open seat.) The file also includes the ID number assigned to the candidate by the FEC which is used in tracking campaign finance information about the campaign, as well as the ID number of the candidate's principal campaign committee.