Apify Public Data & Leads

FEC Campaign Finance Search

fec_campaign_finance_search

Read-only

Search U.S. FEC records for candidates, committees/PACs, or individual contributions. Supports research by name, party, state, or office.

Instructions

Search the US Federal Election Commission's public register of federal candidates, committees/PACs, or individual campaign contributions. A single call returns one record type only, selected with data_type, because candidates, committees, and contributions carry genuinely different fields.

Behavioral Transparency:

Execution: Network call executed synchronously in the cloud via Apify Actor 'captainhandsome/fec-campaign-finance-search'.
Side Effects: Reads public sources and creates a billed Actor run and dataset on your Apify account.
Authentication: Requires APIFY_TOKEN environment variable.
Latency & Limits: Typical run duration is 10-30 seconds; timeout capped at 120 seconds.

Usage Guidelines:

When to use: Use for political campaign research, candidate and PAC vetting, donor/contribution geography and industry analysis, or election-cycle fundraising tracking.
When NOT to use: Do not use for corporate SEC filings, environmental compliance, clinical trials, or FDA drug/device data. Contributor street addresses are never returned (deliberately excluded upstream).
Named alternatives: Use 'french_company_search' for French corporate registry data, 'epa_facility_search' for environmental compliance, 'clinical_trials_search' for medical studies, or 'openfda_search' for FDA drug/device data.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`name`	No	Candidate, committee, or contributor name to search for, depending on data_type.
`party`	No	Three-letter party code, e.g. 'DEM', 'REP', 'LIB'. Applies to candidates only.
`state`	No	Two-letter state code. For contributions this filters the contributor's state, not the recipient's.
`office`	No	Office sought: 'H' House, 'S' Senate, 'P' President. Applies to candidates only.
`data_type`	No	Which register to search: federal candidates, committees and PACs, or individual contributions. Defaults to 'candidates'.	candidates
`max_results`	No	Maximum number of records to retrieve. Defaults to 10.

Output Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`run`	No
`error`	No
`status`	Yes
`results`	Yes

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed31 schema fields changedv1.1.0Sep 15, 2026

addedInput schema / additionalProperties
```
Added value: +false
```
addedOutput schema / properties / error
```
Added value: +{
+  "type": "object"
+}
```

removedOutput schema / properties / results / description

Removed value: -"Collection of FEC candidate, committee, or contribution records."

changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / district / description

Previous value: -"Congressional district. House candidates only."New value: +"Congressional district, returned as a string rather than a number so that it sorts and exports predictably. House candidates only."

addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / district / title
```
Added value: +"District"
```
changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / district / type
```
Previous value: -"string"New value: +[
+  "string",
+  "null"
+]
```

changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / id / description

Previous value: -"FEC identifier for the row (candidate ID, committee ID, or transaction sub_id)."New value: +"FEC identifier for the row. Candidates get a candidate ID, committees an ID beginning with C, and contributions the filing line's sub_id - a transaction identifier, not a donor identifier, so the same person carries a different id on every gift."

addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / id / title
```
Added value: +"Record ID"
```
changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / id / type
```
Previous value: -"string"New value: +[
+  "string",
+  "null"
+]
```

changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / name / description

Previous value: -"Registered name of the candidate or committee. Null on contribution rows."New value: +"Registered name of the candidate or committee, surname first for candidates. Null on contribution rows, which carry the donor in contributor_name instead."

addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / name / title
```
Added value: +"Name"
```
changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / name / type
```
Previous value: -"string"New value: +[
+  "string",
+  "null"
+]
```

changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / office / description

Previous value: -"Office sought, expanded to a readable label. Candidate rows only."New value: +"Office the candidate is running for, expanded to a readable label rather than the FEC's H, S or P code. Candidate rows only."

addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / office / title
```
Added value: +"Office sought"
```
changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / office / type
```
Previous value: -"string"New value: +[
+  "string",
+  "null"
+]
```

changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / party / description

Previous value: -"Full party name as filed."New value: +"Full party name as filed. Candidates almost always carry one. Committees often do not: Super PACs return null and some campaign committees return NON-PARTY."

addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / party / title
```
Added value: +"Party"
```
changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / party / type
```
Previous value: -"string"New value: +[
+  "string",
+  "null"
+]
```

changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / record_type / description

Previous value: -"Which search produced this row: candidate, committee, or contribution."New value: +"Which of the three searches produced this row: candidate, committee or contribution. A run returns one type only, so this value is identical on every row and exists so that merged exports stay separable."

addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / record_type / title
```
Added value: +"Record type"
```
changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / record_type / type
```
Previous value: -"string"New value: +[
+  "string",
+  "null"
+]
```

changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / state / description

Previous value: -"Two-letter state code relevant to the record."New value: +"Two-letter state code. On candidate rows this is the state of the office sought; on committee rows it is the committee's own filing address, which is not necessarily where it spends."

addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / state / title
```
Added value: +"State"
```
changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / state / type
```
Previous value: -"string"New value: +[
+  "string",
+  "null"
+]
```

changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / url / description

Previous value: -"Canonical FEC.gov URL for the record."New value: +"Link to the record on fec.gov. Candidate and committee rows only - an individual contribution line has no page of its own."

addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / url / title
```
Added value: +"FEC record URL"
```
changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / url / type
```
Previous value: -"string"New value: +[
+  "string",
+  "null"
+]
```
removedOutput schema / properties / results / items / required
```
Removed value: -[
-  "record_type",
-  "id"
-]
```
addedOutput schema / properties / run
```
Added value: +{
+  "type": "object"
+}
```

addedOutput schema / properties / status

Added value: +{
+  "enum": [
+    "success",
+    "empty_unverified",
+    "partial",
+    "error"
+  ],
+  "type": "string"
+}

changedOutput schema / required

Previous value: -[
-  "results"
-]New value: +[
+  "results",
+  "status"
+]

Addedv1.0.11Sep 13, 2026

TDQS

A4.6/5.0

Behavior4/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

Annotations already declare readOnlyHint=true and destructiveHint=false, so the safety profile is covered. The description adds valuable behavioral context: synchronous network call via Apify Actor, billed Actor run and dataset creation, APIFY_TOKEN requirement, and latency/timeout expectations. It does not contradict annotations. Minor gap: no detail on pagination or exact dataset output structure, but the output schema exists and the description covers the main behavioral traits.

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness4/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

The description is well-structured with clear sections (Behavioral Transparency, Usage Guidelines) and front-loaded purpose. It is somewhat long but every section earns its place, providing operational and routing details. The length is justified by the complexity of the tool.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness5/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

Given the tool's complexity, the output schema exists, and annotations cover safety, the description is complete. It covers execution model, side effects, auth, latency, exclusions, and alternatives. An agent has everything needed to select and invoke it correctly.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters4/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

Schema description coverage is 100%, so the schema already documents all parameters. The description adds meaning by explaining that data_type selects the record type and that fields differ across types, and clarifies that state filters the contributor's state for contributions. This goes beyond the schema's basic descriptions, though it doesn't deeply elaborate every parameter.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose5/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

The description states a specific verb ('Search') and resource ('US Federal Election Commission's public register of federal candidates, committees/PACs, or individual campaign contributions'). It also explicitly notes that a single call returns one record type only, selected with data_type, which distinguishes it from a generic multi-type search. This is clear and differentiates from siblings.

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines5/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

The description provides explicit 'When to use' and 'When NOT to use' sections, including named alternatives like 'french_company_search', 'epa_facility_search', 'clinical_trials_search', and 'openfda_search'. It also states a key exclusion (contributor street addresses never returned). This is exemplary guidance.

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.