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Ballotpedia:Our partnership with Transparency USA
This page outlines Ballotpedia's collaboration with Transparency USA. Since the 2020 campaign cycle, Ballotpedia has partnered with Transparency USA to provide campaign finance information for state-level elections.
Collecting campaign finance information for federal elections is a relatively straightforward process; all candidates running for federal office must file with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and submit regular financial reports. The FEC releases this data in bulk, allowing our coverage of federal elections to be rapidly updated with the most recent fundraising figures.
However, this information is less readily available in state-level elections. Each state has its own campaign finance agency with its own standards for reporting, processing, and publishing campaign finance data. Transparency USA, a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization, has streamlined access to this information in an elegant, standardized format, allowing us to provide a similar level of detailed financial information for state-level races.
In states covered by our partnership, Ballotpedia's election coverage includes the following comprehensive campaign finance data for all state-level candidates, including state legislative candidates:
- Total contributions to each campaign
- Total expenditures from each campaign
- The top ten individuals or organizations contributing to each campaign
- The top ten individuals or organizations being paid by each campaign
- The number of donors to each campaign
- The number of payees from each campaign
As of September 2020, this campaign finance information is published on relevant candidate profiles and election overview articles.
What states are covered in this partnership?
Transparency USA provides Ballotpedia with data from the following 12 states:
- Arizona
- California
- Florida
- Indiana
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Virginia
- Wisconsin
Why does Ballotpedia publish the names of donors?
Campaign contributions are public; more information on campaign finance requirements in the various states can be found here. Ballotpedia has long included campaign finance data on our site, which comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. We believe this information is vital for helping voters better understand the electoral landscape.
Why highlight the top 10 donors?
We believe it is important to have a standard cutoff to ensure that we are providing the same degree of information for each candidate. Readers seeking more complete fundraising information for any given candidate may click the "View more" button at the bottom of the campaign finance table to view Transparency USA's complete breakdown of that candidate's financial reports.
What types of political action committees (PACs) are included in state-level campaign finance data?
Transactions made by committees directly associated with individual candidates and officeholders are categorized as candidates. All PACs registered with the state reporting agency, including conduits, are included in the Transparency USA database as PACs. Federal PACs are not required to file reports with state reporting agencies but may appear as donors or payees to state-level candidates or PACs. We use the following definitions for different types of PACs:
- Candidate PAC: Committees directly associated with an individual candidate or officeholder.
- Non-candidate PAC: Groups not directly associated with an individual candidate or officeholder.
- Conduit PAC: A subset of non-candidate PAC. This is a group through which individuals can make donations to specific candidate PACs.
How does Transparency USA gather their data?
Campaign finance processes vary from state to state, so the way Transparency USA gathers data is different for each state. Click on a state below to learn more about how Transparency USA gathers data in that state.
