# Texas Campaign Finance (`weighty_suona/texas-campaign-finance`) Actor

This Apify actor extracts public campaign finance data from the Texas Division of Elections Campaign Finance Database. Search for contributions and expenditures by candidate name, committee name (PACs, parties), or contributor/donor name.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/weighty\_suona/texas-campaign-finance.md
- **Developed by:** [Andrew Goodrich](https://apify.com/weighty_suona) (community)
- **Categories:** News, Integrations, Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.50 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Texas Campaign Finance Scraper

Extract campaign finance data from the [Texas Ethics Commission](https://www.ethics.state.tx.us/search/cf/). Search contributions and expenditures by candidate name, committee name, or donor name.

### Features

| Feature | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| **Simple Search** | One search box for candidates, committees, or donors |
| **Search Type** | Filter by Donations, Expenditures, or Both |
| **Category Filter** | Narrow to Candidates, Committees (PACs/Parties), or Contributors (Donors) |
| **Sort Results** | Best Match, Date (Newest/Oldest), Amount (Highest/Lowest) |
| **Election Year** | Select any election cycle from 2000 to present |
| **Pagination** | Automatically handles multi-page results |

### Pricing

| Records Retrieved | Approximate Cost |
|-------------------|------------------|
| 100 records | ~$0.10 |
| 1,000 records | ~$1.00 |
| 10,000 records | ~$10.00 |

Costs are calculated per dataset item returned. Pay only for the data you extract.

### Input Parameters

| Parameter | Required | Description |
|-----------|----------|-------------|
| **Search Query** | Yes | Candidate name, committee name, or donor name. Examples: 'Abbott', 'Texas Republican Party', 'Smith' |
| **Max Items** | No | Max records to retrieve. Default: 1,000. Range: 1-10,000 |
| **Search Type** | No | `donations`, `expenditures`, or `combined` (default) |
| **Category** | No | `candidates`, `committees`, or `contributors` (default: `candidates`) |
| **Sort By** | No | `bestMatch` (default), `dateDesc`, `dateAsc`, `amountDesc`, `amountAsc` |
| **Election Year** | No | Election cycle. Default: `All`. Options: 2000-2026 |

### How to Search

| What You're Looking For | Search Query | Category | Example |
|------------------------|--------------|----------|---------|
| Contributions to a candidate | "Abbott" | Candidates | "Abbott" |
| Donations from a person/company | "Smith" or "AT\&T" | Contributors | "Smith" |
| PAC spending | "Republican Party" | Committees | "Texas Republican Party" |
| All activity in an election year | "Candidate Name" | Candidates | 2024 |

### Output Format

Each record in the Apify dataset:

```json
{
  "date": "2024-01-15",
  "amount": 5000,
  "amountRaw": "5,000.00",
  "recordType": "Contribution",
  "contributorName": "Smith, John",
  "recipientName": "Abbott, Greg",
  "searchQuery": "Abbott",
  "source": "Texas Ethics Commission"
}
```

### Data Source

This actor scrapes the official Texas Ethics Commission Campaign Finance Database. All data is public record.

### Use Cases

- **Political research** — Track campaign funding patterns
- **Journalism** — Investigate political donations and spending
- **Compliance monitoring** — Verify campaign finance reporting
- **Academic research** — Study campaign finance trends in Texas
- **Public transparency** — Make campaign finance data more accessible

### Performance

- Uses Playwright headless browser for form-based data extraction
- Texas opens results in a popup window which is captured automatically
- Typical runtime: 10-30 seconds depending on result set size
- Supports pagination for large result sets

### Support

For issues or feature requests, please use the Issues tab on this Actor's page.

# Actor input Schema

## `searchQuery` (type: `string`):

Candidate name, committee name, or donor name. Examples: 'Abbott', 'Texas Republican Party', 'Smith'

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Max records (1-10000).

## `searchType` (type: `string`):

Type of financial records

## `category` (type: `string`):

Type of entity to search

## `sortBy` (type: `string`):

Sort order

## `electionYear` (type: `string`):

Election cycle

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchQuery": "Abbott",
  "maxItems": 1000,
  "searchType": "combined",
  "category": "candidates",
  "sortBy": "bestMatch",
  "electionYear": "All"
}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "searchQuery": "Abbott"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("weighty_suona/texas-campaign-finance").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "searchQuery": "Abbott" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("weighty_suona/texas-campaign-finance").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "searchQuery": "Abbott"
}' |
apify call weighty_suona/texas-campaign-finance --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=weighty_suona/texas-campaign-finance",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/mA9KT7P6MFr8QDK9J/builds/ELxucUn2bhpx55uMU/openapi.json