Campaign Finance Data For The Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania

We have a right to know who is funding our political process.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania maintains data in hardcopy and electronic format that contains information about the people and organizations that drive our elections. Unfortunately, this data is hard to access for the average citizen. There are some who argue that the Department of State intentionally makes it difficult to make sense of this data. For instance, the search feature on the Campaign Finance Reporting Home Page is cumbersome at best. The data on the Commonwealth's FTP Site provides larger amounts of information, but it is difficult to use, and beyond the ready implementation of most Pennsylvania citizens.

I have downloaded the data found on the Commonwealth's FTP site. It goes back to 1998. I have created simple HTML files with the data so that anyone can view it -- and I think it is important for more people in the Commonwealth to see just how much money is in the system. While I do not wish to make judgments of any candidate, political action committee, or lobbyist, I believe it is imperative for others in Pennsylvania to review this information and decide for themselves how money in Pennsylvania politics is affecting matters at the local or Commonwealth level.

The files listed below are very large in some instances. They contain a summary of the data for the period at the beginning, and then all the data provided by the Commonwealth. In some instances, data is missing or clearly incorrect. In other instances, large organizations report every small gift (even though this, too, is incorrect) so files for some periods must be broken down into smaller pieces, or they simply would not load in your browser.

Data is presented by period, by filer, and then by the four general sections of the campaign finance report: Contributions, Receipts, Expenses, and Debt. I have a list of current Political Action Committees from the Commonwealth's website if you need to reference Filer ID Numbers.

If more than one hundred new people "like" my PPCM Fan Page on Facebook as a result of these efforts, I will attempt to provide the same information about the City of Philadelphia, which requires candidates and political committees to file electronically.