Institute event reveals why and how to use campaign finance data

A panel of experts on campaign finance data called it the key to politics and provided practical guidance to journalists for accessing and using it at a National Press Club Journalism Institute event Monday.

Ellen Weintraub, chair of the Federal Election Commission, said campaign finance "affects who gets elected, what gets enacted.”

She encouraged reporters to contact the commission because its reporting data is set up to help them follow the money. For data go here, to contact the agency, go here.

Weintraub named current “hot issues” as the sources of money, particularly dark money, which consists of contributions made through entities such as 501(c)4 charities and limited liability companies that are not required to report individual contributions; and small versus large donors as sources of a candidate’s support.

A new development is the emergence of super PACs, or political action committees, created to oppose individual candidates and their appearance this early in the cycle, she said.

Paul S. Ryan, vice president for policy and litigation at Common Cause, said, ”The integrity of our government depends on journalists,” and added that he and others translate stories that identify illegal activities into complaints to the FEC.

Anita Kumar, an associate editor at Politico, threw out ideas for stories including patterns in spending. She suggested looking at the states where candidates spend, many or few, and trends in spending that may shift during the campaign. Comparing money sources between or among candidates could provide stories, she said.

Sheila Krumholz, executive director, Center for Responsive Politics, said, ”You can find gold deep in the data,” citing discovery that the Republican National Committee purchased Sarah Palin’s wardrobe when she ran for vice president.

The CRP cross classifies FEC data in detail by donors and expenditures in a data base called Open Secrets. Access it here.

Some of the stories the classifications can yield include industries donating to a candidate, individuals donating to multiple candidates, individuals flipping from candidates after primaries, campaign expenditures at Trump properties by candidates and dark money receipts by candidates.

Krumholz warned that developing the categorization takes time and schedules for updating vary among categories, so users need to check the notes at the bottom of internet pages. She demonstrated the use of Open Secrets by comparing Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on such dimensions as percent of donations from women donors, from small donors, from specific industries and expense categories.