Maryland campaign finance next to federal obligations

Maryland’s join is a postal code, not a wire

LobbyVault indexes FEC.gov candidate receipts for Maryland at $51.2 million across 1,309 committees. SpendingVault indexes USAspending.gov obligations at $480,918,851,683 across 296,336 awards. The join key is MD. A Form 3 contribution does not become a contract or grant because both rows mention Maryland.

The scale gap is the first honest observation: $51.2 million is a receipt total; $480,918,851,683 is an obligation total. Receipts measure what candidate committees booked. Obligations measure what agencies promised to pay. Adding them invents a Maryland federal-money headline no agency published.

Open Maryland campaign finance for the FEC table, Maryland USAspending for the award table, and All FEC ties for sibling joins. None of those pages converts donations into spending.

Naval and health-research folklore around Maryland is a reason people search this join. It is not a NAICS share in the packet. If you need agency names, open Maryland USAspending. If you need committee names, open Maryland campaign finance. 89.2% Democratic receipts still do not color 296,336 awards.

A Democratic-heavy FEC book on a modest roster

Democratic committees reported $45.7 million (89.2% of $51.2 million). Republican committees reported $5.5 million (10.8%). Other filers reported $0.0 million (0.0%), a sliver. 1,309 federal candidate committees tagged to Maryland sit behind those lines, including residual and long-shot filers.

89.2% is a committee-label share. USAspending awards in this packet have no Democratic flag. Copying 89.2 percent onto $480,918,851,683 would assign party to vendors and grantees this file does not party-code. Sort Maryland campaign finance by receipts if you need to see which committees hold $45.7 million.

Prince George’s County, Montgomery County, and the Eastern Shore share MD. This packet does not split $51.2 million or $480,918,851,683 among them. 1,309 committees and 296,336 awards remain statewide. A Beltway-versus-shore map would be a different extract.

Maryland obligations are an award extract

$480,918,851,683 covers award obligations USAspending attributes to Maryland. 296,336 is an action count, not unique recipients. Health, defense, and civilian agencies can all appear in that count without appearing on a campaign report. Repeat awards to the same entity add rows.

Recipient and agency names live on Maryland USAspending. They do not live inside the 1,309 FEC committees. Independent expenditures that mention a Maryland candidate can be paid from elsewhere and sit in neither total.

Quote Maryland campaign finance for the live FEC roster of 1,309 committees and $51.2 million in receipts. Quote Maryland USAspending for $480,918,851,683 and 296,336 awards. All FEC ties keeps MD in a series of geographic joins. None of those pages adds receipts to obligations or assigns FEC party codes to awards.

Proximity to Washington is not a packet dollar

Maryland’s geography next to the District of Columbia explains why researchers open this join. It does not add a figure to the packet. Only $51.2 million, 1,309 committees, $480,918,851,683, 296,336 awards, and the party lines are facts here.

State races file with Maryland’s state system, outside $51.2 million. Local spending paid without a federal award is outside $480,918,851,683. Beltway folklore is not a substitute for those two extracts.

What not to compute from Maryland’s pair

Do not divide $480,918,851,683 by $51.2 million and call the result a return on donations. The units are unlike. Do not divide 296,336 by 1,309 and call the result awards per campaign. Candidate committees are not award recipients in this join.

County splits of Baltimore versus the suburbs are not in this packet. $51.2 million and $480,918,851,683 are statewide. A metro cut would be a different file. All FEC ties does not hide one under Maryland’s slug.

Maryland citation block

FEC.gov: $51.2 million; 1,309 committees; Democratic $45.7 million; Republican $5.5 million; other $0.0 million. USAspending.gov: $480,918,851,683; 296,336 awards. Two sentences. No plus sign. Campaign contributions are not federal awards.

Questions

Do Maryland campaign donations fund Maryland federal awards?

No. $51.2 million is FEC candidate receipts from 1,309 committees. $480,918,851,683 is USAspending obligations from 296,336 awards. A shared MD code is not a payment trail from donors to vendors. Original filings remain on FEC.gov and USAspending.gov.

How Democratic is Maryland’s federal candidate fundraising?

Democratic committees reported $45.7 million, or 89.2% of $51.2 million. Republican committees reported $5.5 million (10.8%). Other filers reported $0.0 million. Those shares describe 1,309 candidate committees, not award recipients on USAspending.gov.

How much has the federal government obligated in Maryland?

USAspending.gov records $480,918,851,683 in obligations across 296,336 awards coded to Maryland. That is an agency-award extract, not FEC operating expenditure, and not a restatement of $51.2 million in candidate receipts. LobbyVault joins the MD extracts only. FEC.gov and USAspending.gov remain the originating systems.

Where are Maryland’s FEC and spending hubs?

Maryland campaign finance on LobbyVault holds FEC receipts. Maryland USAspending holds obligations. All FEC ties lists other state joins. If a later bulk file disagrees with this snapshot, the later extract controls. LobbyVault joins the MD extracts only. FEC.gov and USAspending.gov remain the originating systems.