From most transparent to least transparent
Just as candidates run for different levels of public office, they also undergo different levels of scrutiny.
The federal government has more resources than state and local governments to collect data and enforce campaign regulations.
The Federal Election Commission has a site where anyone can search for campaign contributions to federal agencies such as the president and Congress. The Pennsylvania Department of State has a search tool built on older technology to investigate donations in state-level races. At the local level, it is up to cities and counties to decide how to make that data available to the public.
“It gets more and more difficult as you go down to different levels of government, from the FEC to the state level to the local level,” said Stephen Medovic, a political science professor at Franklin Marshall College.
Pittsburgh has a searchable database, and Montgomery County scans and catalogs financial reports. Most counties keep their records on paper in file cabinets, but they are also available for public inspection.
“It’s very difficult for each individual citizen to track that,” Medovic said. “So we have to rely on good government groups or obviously journalists to track this kind of thing.”
How to monitor politicians’ movements
Kolodny said the United States is considered the most transparent country in the world regarding campaign finance. This is true even for organizations that support candidates but are not required to disclose their donors. This practice is commonly referred to as “black money.”
The country also hosts some of the most expensive campaigns in the world.
In addition to government-run websites, groups such as the nonpartisan OpenSecrets also help monitor funds spent on campaigns.
The site aggregates and correlates federal data, allowing users to research federal candidates, officeholders, donors, and outside spending. It also operates a site for tracking candidates and officeholders at the state level called FollowTheMoney. For those who are very interested in money in politics, OpenSecrets has created a tip sheet to help you with your research.
Kolodny said it was important for people not to jump to conclusions when considering contributions.
While some may see donations to candidates by local businesses, that does not necessarily account for that business’ political affiliation. Large employers tend to fund local incumbent candidates, often without partisan considerations, she said.
Focusing on donations by partisan groups may be more useful to average people, especially undecided voters.
Voters can also compare small donations to contributions from large donors and political action committees. Campaign dollars also indicate both the competitiveness of an election and the importance of a seat.
But even though large sums of money are poured into U.S. elections, money is not political destiny.
“Nothing can compete with a well-organized grassroots movement,” Kolodny said.
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This article is part of a commentary series focused on Pennsylvania elections produced jointly by WITF in Harrisburg and The Associated Press.
