September 17, 2020
A new PDC tool helps the public visualize candidate campaign reports by mapping the sources of their campaign cash and showing how their financial support has changed over time.
You'll find the "Show me the money" application via a link on each candidate's campaign overview page. (The exception is some small-dollar campaigns that don't have to report contributions.)
Use this link to browse 2020 candidates. Enter the candidate name in the search box at the top of the page, and you'll find the candidate overview page. Clicking the map image will take you to the visualization dashboard.
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The tool will build a map showing the geographic source of campaign contributions to the candidate and totals donated from that location. You can drill down by clicking into each circle, and the application will reveal the names of top contributors in each area.
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You can add the names of up to two other candidates to compare the sources of their support. The application also shows a bar chart of top contributors and a graph of contributions over time.
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You can research past campaigns by selecting a different election year in the upper left-hand corner. Campaign reports back to the 2007 cycle are available.
The "Show me the money" tool was developed by Tyler Technologies on the Socrata platform, which provides the Open Data portal for Washington state agencies. Tyler approached the PDC earlier this year to collaborate on the launch of the tool, citing the agency's experience with publishing high-quality datasets.
The PDC began making millions of records available through the Open Data portal in 2017. Its compilation of contributions to candidates and political committees is consistently one of state government's most accessed datasets.