June 9, 2012
Maine

I want to know who gave my state representatives and candidates money

All candidates:

This page lists everyone who ran for state office for the selected year. (To change the year of the data you’re looking at you’ll find a box on the left side of the page called “Time Machine.”) If you click on the name it will take you to another page with more in-depth data. It lists the top 20 contributors to their campaign, as well as the top industries who supported them. At the bottom of the page you’ll find two pie-charts of particular interest. The first shows how much money was raised from individuals versus institutions. The second shows how much money came from in-state versus out-of-state.

All donors and expenditures:

http://www.mainecampaignfinance.com/Public/DataDownload.aspx

If you’re a nerdy government wonk like us, or just a curious citizen, this is a great resource. This page contains links to two huge excel files that list (1) everyone who contributed money to candidates, PACS or party committees, and (2) all the expenditures of the candidates, PACs and party committees. The lists have data from 2000 to now. If you click on the link saying “Download all Contributions,” you’ll be able to download an Excel file with all the contributors of the past 12 years and the recipients of their contributions. This may take some time – it’s a large list. The great thing about having the data in this format is that you can sort it by several categories. We find it useful to sort it by contributor so that you can see who has been supporting who. Ditto for the second link, which gives you the expenditures during that same time period.

What industries (agriculture, finance, health etc.) have given money to what representatives, candidates, and PACs?

This page looks complex, but is relatively simple once you know how to use it. The most useful tool is the table part way down the page, listed as Table 1: Contributions. You can either be very generic with this, and simply select the “View All Donations” (warning: there are a lot of contributions, 28,932 to be exact!), or you can get more specific by clicking on the pluses to open more detailed categories and selecting those you’re interested in. Also, to change the year of the data you’re looking at you’ll find a box on the left side of the page called “Time Machine.”

Who contributed to political party committees?

This page has a listing of the political parties and who, both individually and by industry, contributed to them. An interesting bar chart at the bottom breaks down and compares the various business sectors for both the Democratic and Republican party. To get more details on a contributor, just click on their name. Also, to change the year of the data you’re looking at you’ll find a box on the left side of the page called “Time Machine.” Have fun, and watch out for Morlocks.

How was a candidate’s campaign financed?

This page takes you to listings of the contributors to the campaigns of governors, state representatives, state senators, county commissioners, registers of probate, and judges of probate. First select the year that the candidate you’re interested in ran; then find their name. Click it and it will take you to more in-depth data. To see who gave them money, and what they spent that money on, click the “Detailed Financial Activity for this Candidate” button. Contributions will be on top, expenditures on the bottom.