Campaign finance refers to the funding of political campaigns and electoral processes. It deals with the raising and spending of money by candidates, political parties, and interest groups (lobbies) to influence elections. The corruptive influence of money in American political campaigns has been an issue since General Washington was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1758 after treating voters to 160 gallons of rum, punch, wine, beer, and cider.
The original text of the laws associated with campaign finance are found in the United States Code (USC) at: 52 USC Ch. 301: Federal Election Campaigns Title 52—VOTING AND ELECTIONS Subtitle III—Federal Campaign Finance.
OpenSecrets.org is considered the most comprehensive resource for detailed data on who is funding political candidates, which industries and organizations are influencing elections, and how money flows through the U.S. political system. Run by the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), OpenSecrets provides one of the most extensive databases of lobbying expenditures data, campaign finance data, and political contributions to members of Congress, committees, congressional races, and political parties.
OpenSecrets provides campaign finance comparisons of candidates in every U.S. House and Senate race from 1999-2000, including the size of contributions, industry and interest groups contributing, and geographic locations of contributors. In the top navigation of OpenSecrets, choose Elections & Fundraising Data > Congressional Elections.
