The campaign finance desk that never sleeps

FEC filings, state committee reports, PAC disclosures, independent expenditure reports — all public, all on awkward websites, all filed on rolling deadlines. The story is in the data, but the data is only useful if someone’s reading the filings the day they drop.

This reads them.

What it does

Watches FEC filings and the state campaign finance portals your team cares about.
Pulls every new contribution report, expenditure report, and committee filing as it posts.
Writes a short brief: who filed, what’s new since the last report, which donors or recipients on your watchlist appear, and the biggest line items.
Matches filings against your watchlist — donors, recipients, vendors, PACs, candidates.

The reveal

A quarterly report drops at 11:58pm on the filing deadline. By 1am your reporter has a brief: three donors on your watchlist gave five-figure amounts, one expenditure went to a vendor you’ve been tracking, and the cycle total is up 40% from the prior filing. Story’s ready to write before breakfast.

What it doesn’t do

No speculation about why a donor gave or what a candidate will spend on. No political opinion. It tells you what was filed and what changed; your team brings the story.

Configuration

Watchlist: donors, recipients, PACs, vendors, candidates.
Jurisdictions: federal (FEC), states, and cities to watch.
Thresholds: minimum dollar amount to flag.

Triggers