Charleston, SC: $27.2M on 81,366 FEC receipts

Charleston’s volume on the harbor

Eighty-one thousand three hundred sixty-six lines produce $27,199,231. Divide the pair and the mean itemized line is about $334. Mount Pleasant, North Charleston, and Sullivan’s Island are other nearby city strings. They are not inside $27,199,231 unless the filer typed Charleston.

Columbia keeps a separate South Carolina hub. Charleston County is orientation, not an FEC roll-up. $27,199,231 is the Charleston, SC match only.

Not Columbia, North Charleston, or a Lowcountry recode

North Charleston is a distinct municipal name and, when filers type it, a distinct FEC city string. Merging it into Charleston would invent a metro that the Commission does not store. This packet publishes Charleston, SC only: $27,199,231 and 81,366 lines. A James Island household typed as Charleston sits inside the pair; a peninsula household typed as Mount Pleasant does not. Recheck both facts on the live hub if a later extract lands.

The city field can include a PAC or joint-fundraising address when that is what filers typed. LobbyVault does not strip those rows. The 81,366 lines are receipts, not unique persons. Amended reports can raise or lower both facts.

City string versus peninsula map

FEC.gov stores whatever city appeared on the itemized receipt. Charleston plus SC is the match. Recoding into a Census place, a peninsula-only map, or a “Greater Charleston” label is a different dataset. The 81,366 lines follow the city field as filers typed it, not as a researcher would draw the harbor.

ZIP pages cut the same federal series by postal code. Summing Charleston-area ZIPs can diverge from $27,199,231 when some receipts used Mount Pleasant or James Island as the city. The 81,366-line count follows the city field, not the postal map.

What $27,199,231 from Charleston omits

Unitemized federal contributions do not appear in $27,199,231. Many small gifts never become Schedule A city rows. Citing $27,199,231 as “all federal money from Charleston” overstates the series. The 81,366 lines are the itemized book only, not a resident census.

South Carolina state campaigns file under state law. Those receipts are outside $27,199,231 and outside 81,366. Independent expenditures that never appear as contribution itemizations are outside both facts. County and municipal races that never become federal Schedule A rows sit outside both facts as well. Quote the itemized pair only: dollars and lines.

Keep SC on the Charleston citation

Charleston, West Virginia and Charleston, Illinois are other city strings. State SC stays on the citation so Charleston, SC is not merged with them. The 81,366 lines and the mean near $334 describe this key only. A citation that drops SC invites a merge with those other Charlestons.

Nothing here ranks Charleston against Greenville. Quote the two packet facts for this key only. If the live hub reprints a different pair, the newer FEC extract wins. North Charleston remains a distinct string when filers typed it that way; do not fold it into $27,199,231 after the fact.

How researchers should use the Charleston hub

Start on the live Charleston city page, then open ZIP pages if a postal cut is the real question. $27,199,231 is the city-string dollar total in this snapshot. 81,366 is the matching line count. Filers typed Charleston. LobbyVault indexed Charleston. The harbor, the peninsula, and “the Lowcountry” are useful for maps and news copy. They are not FEC dimensions on this hub. A Mount Pleasant household typed as Charleston sits inside the pair; a peninsula household typed as North Charleston does not.

Cite the pair in one sentence: contributor city Charleston, SC, $27,199,231, 81,366 itemized federal contributions, source FEC.gov via LobbyVault. A mean near $334 is only $27,199,231 divided by 81,366. It is not a typical Charleston household gift and not a typical King Street office gift. Occupation, recipient, and party are other FEC fields. None of those fields are in this packet. Do not infer turnout. Do not infer that Charleston is more or less politically active than Columbia because the line counts differ. Columbia is a different city string with its own hub. Original PDFs and electronic filings remain on FEC.gov for any named Charleston receipt that needs a line-by-line check.

Questions

What is Charleston’s federal contribution total on LobbyVault?

Itemized FEC.gov receipts listing contributor city Charleston, SC total $27,199,231 across 81,366 contributions. That pair is a city-string roll-up of federal Schedule A rows, not a unique-donor count and not a census of Charleston residents. Unitemized gifts sit outside both figures.

How should I read Charleston’s 81,366 contributions?

LobbyVault counts 81,366 itemized lines for Charleston, SC. That is a line count, not a headcount of unique people. Repeat gifts and memo entries can add rows without adding donors. This packet publishes no unique-donor figure. The matching dollar total is $27,199,231.

Does Charleston’s total include North Charleston or Mount Pleasant?

Only if the filer typed Charleston. North Charleston, Mount Pleasant, and Columbia are separate city strings when they appear that way on the receipt. $27,199,231 is the Charleston, SC match. The 81,366 lines follow the same rule. Metro labels are not an FEC dimension on this hub.

Where do the Charleston facts come from?

Both facts come from FEC.gov itemized contribution aggregates indexed on LobbyVault: $27,199,231 and 81,366 lines. Original reports remain on FEC.gov. South Carolina non-federal filings are outside the pair. If a later extract disagrees, the Commission’s filing controls. The mean of about $334 is arithmetic from those two packet numbers.