Campaign Expenditures in the United States, 1999-2000: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Data

Résumé 0

These data, comprising five separate files, are made available by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and are taken directly from campaign finance reports filed by candidates, political committees, and others required to file under the federal election laws for the 1999-2000 election cycle. Part 1, Candidate Master File, contains a record for every registered candidate for federal office. Each of these records includes the candidate's name, identification number, address, party affiliation, incumbent/challenger status, and the identification number of the candidate's principal campaign committee. Part 2, Committee Master File, includes a record for every registered political committee, unauthorized delegate filer, independent expenditure filer, and communication cost filer. Included in this file is the identification number, name, address, treasurer's name, party affiliation, report filing frequency, and special interest group category of each of these entities. Part 3, Itemized Record of Contributions to/Disbursements on Behalf of Candidates, comprises records of reported contributions to candidates and disbursements on behalf of candidates by political committees, unauthorized delegate filers, independent expenditure filers, and communication cost filers. Information in this file includes the identification number of the contributing/disbursing entity, type of report, and the date, type, and amount of each transaction. Part 4, Itemized Record of Individual/Candidate Contributions, furnishes records of receipts of contributions from individuals, from candidates to their own campaigns, and disbursements to refund contributions to individuals, as reported by candidates and their committees, other political committees, and persons making independent expenditures. Part 4 also covers the tracking of contributions that individuals earmarked for a specific candidate as they proceeded through intermediaries registered with the FEC. Information in this file includes the identification number of the filer, report type, transaction type, date and amount of the transaction, and the name, address, and occupation of the contributor. Part 5, Itemized Record of Miscellaneous Transactions, contains all transactions (contribution, transfers, etc., among federal committees), all data in the itemized committee contributions file, plus PAC contributions to party committees, party transfers from state committee to state committee, and party transfers from national committee to state committee.