Candidate and Committee Expenditures in Washington State

Washington State campaign expenditures from candidates and political committees over the last 10 years. The Washington State Public Disclosure Commission compiled the data from legally mandated reports including forms C3 and C4. Records include in-kind contributions and are updated as of April 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyze spending trends by `party` or `office` over multiple `election_year` cycles.
• Identify top `payee` entities receiving funds from `candidate` or `committee_id` campaigns.
• Map expenditure `amount` and frequency by `recipient_city` or `legislative_district` for geographic analysis.
• Examine `type` and `code` of expenditures to categorize spending on activities like advertising or travel.
• Verify reported `expenditure_date` and `amount` against original filings using the provided `url` field.

Strengths

• Covers a 10-year period of campaign finance activity.
• Includes 30 distinct columns detailing payees, amounts, dates, and filer information.
• Data is sourced directly from official PDC filings like forms C3 and C4.

Limitations

• Excludes candidates and committees filing under 'mini reporting' rules, creating a coverage gap.
• The PDC notes data may contain incomplete or incorrect information, requiring verification with original reports.
• Specific row count and total data volume are unknown.

Provenance

Source

Washington State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC).

Collection Method

Reported by candidates and political committees on forms C3, C4, Schedule C, and electronic equivalents.

Time Range

Last 10 years (relative to dataset creation).

Freshness

Last updated April 2026.

Geography

Washington State, United States.