Nason/fec-database

FEC Campaign Finance Database

A clean, queryable DuckDB database built from FEC bulk data covering federal campaign finance filings.

339,466,701 rows across 10 tables covering candidates, committees, individual contributions, PAC spending, and more.

Built with fec-database.

Quick Start

DuckDB CLI

INSTALL httpfs;
LOAD httpfs;
ATTACH 'https://huggingface.co/datasets/Nason/fec-database/resolve/main/fec.duckdb' AS fec (READ_ONLY);

-- Top presidential candidates by individual donations (2024 cycle)
SELECT c.CAND_NAME, c.CAND_PTY_AFFILIATION AS party,
    SUM(i.TRANSACTION_AMT) AS total, COUNT(*) AS donations
FROM fec.individual_contributions i
JOIN fec.candidates c ON i.CMTE_ID = c.CAND_PCC AND i.cycle = c.cycle
WHERE i.cycle = 2024 AND c.CAND_OFFICE = 'P' AND i.TRANSACTION_AMT > 0
GROUP BY 1, 2 ORDER BY total DESC LIMIT 10;

Python

import duckdb
con = duckdb.connect()
con.sql("INSTALL httpfs; LOAD httpfs;")
con.sql(\"\"\"
    ATTACH 'https://huggingface.co/datasets/Nason/fec-database/resolve/main/fec.duckdb'
    AS fec (READ_ONLY)
\"\"\")
con.sql("SELECT * FROM fec._metadata").show()

DuckDB uses HTTP range requests, so only the pages needed for your query are downloaded.

Tables

Table	Description	Rows	Cols	Cycles
individual_contributions	Every individual donation: name, employer, occupation, amount, date	268,792,987	22	2004-2026
committee_to_committee	Transfers between committees	45,559,049	22	2004-2026
operating_expenditures	Committee operating expenditures: payee, purpose, amount	18,875,347	26	2004-2026
committee_contributions	PAC/party contributions to candidates	5,214,013	23	2004-2026
independent_expenditures	Independent expenditures for/against candidates	664,775	258	2010-2026
committees	Committee master: name, type, party, treasurer, connected org	183,599	16	2004-2026
candidates	Candidate master: name, party, office, state, district, status	76,283	16	2004-2026
candidate_committee_links	Which committees are authorized by which candidates	73,520	8	2004-2026
communication_costs	Internal communications supporting/opposing candidates	25,558	27	2010-2026
electioneering_communications	Broadcast ads mentioning candidates near elections	1,570	397	2010-2024

Pre-built Views

View	Description
v_candidate_totals	Candidate fundraising totals from individual contributions
v_top_donors	Aggregated donor activity across all cycles
v_pac_to_candidate	PAC-to-candidate contributions with org names
v_daily_donations	Daily donation volume and amounts

Data Source

Federal Election Commission. Bulk data files are public domain and updated weekly.

License

Database build code: MIT. Underlying data: public domain (U.S. government records).

GitHub

Full source code, build instructions, and example queries: github.com/ian-nason/fec-database