Here's how anyone can learn about campaign finance in Maryland and who's funding our elected government officials' campaigns.
1. In order to determine the source and amount of campaign money the public officials receive you must first find out the name or names of the official's campaign committee(s). To do this, go to this page:
2. From there you should look up the official (candidate) in the Committee Details section. You can search by the candidate's name to find out the name of the active and inactive committees that have been raising money for the candidate. (For example, in the case of State Senator Will Smith his current committee is "Smith, Will for Maryland". But he has had other committees over the years that may need to be referenced depending on what anyone may want to analyze.)
3. Once you identify the committee name, you should next go the page that will enable you to search for any contributions made to the candidate's committee:
4. At that page, in the "Receiver" section you input the name of the official's committee. YOU MUST INPUT IN THE NAME OF THE COMMITTEE EXACTLY AS IT IS WRITTEN IN THE COMMITTEE DATABASE OR YOU WILL NOT GET ANY GOOD RESULTS. (e.g. "Smith, Will for Maryland"). Then, hit the "Search" button. The database will return a table of all the donations made to that committee. And...there are buttons on that page that allow you to export the data to CSV, Excel, .pdf or Word formats.
Note that at both of these pages there are many other variables you can use to search for information about candidates and officials. The above is just a highlight of two of the more important parameters and methods that can be used.
Most important links:
1. https://elections.maryland.gov/campaign_finance/campaign_finance_database.html
2. https://campaignfinance.maryland.gov/Public/ViewCommittees
3. https://campaignfinance.maryland.gov/Public/ViewReceipts
4. https://campaignfinance.maryland.gov/Home/Disclosures
Lastly, the database is only as good as the data that the candidates report.
Good luck if you're doing research!
1. In order to determine the source and amount of campaign money the public officials receive you must first find out the name or names of the official's campaign committee(s). To do this, go to this page:
2. From there you should look up the official (candidate) in the Committee Details section. You can search by the candidate's name to find out the name of the active and inactive committees that have been raising money for the candidate. (For example, in the case of State Senator Will Smith his current committee is "Smith, Will for Maryland". But he has had other committees over the years that may need to be referenced depending on what anyone may want to analyze.)
3. Once you identify the committee name, you should next go the page that will enable you to search for any contributions made to the candidate's committee:
4. At that page, in the "Receiver" section you input the name of the official's committee. YOU MUST INPUT IN THE NAME OF THE COMMITTEE EXACTLY AS IT IS WRITTEN IN THE COMMITTEE DATABASE OR YOU WILL NOT GET ANY GOOD RESULTS. (e.g. "Smith, Will for Maryland"). Then, hit the "Search" button. The database will return a table of all the donations made to that committee. And...there are buttons on that page that allow you to export the data to CSV, Excel, .pdf or Word formats.
Note that at both of these pages there are many other variables you can use to search for information about candidates and officials. The above is just a highlight of two of the more important parameters and methods that can be used.
Most important links:
1. https://elections.maryland.gov/campaign_finance/campaign_finance_database.html
2. https://campaignfinance.maryland.gov/Public/ViewCommittees
3. https://campaignfinance.maryland.gov/Public/ViewReceipts
4. https://campaignfinance.maryland.gov/Home/Disclosures
Lastly, the database is only as good as the data that the candidates report.
Good luck if you're doing research!
