Virginia campaign finance next to federal obligations

Virginia shows why the two ledgers refuse to track

If donations funded awards, a reader might expect $79.1 million and $840,797,163,150 to move together. They do not have to. Federal agencies place work with Virginia-coded recipients under procurement and grant rules that never appear on a Form 3. 1,181,515 award actions can accumulate around the capital region and statewide recipients while 960 candidate committees report a separate $79.1 million.

This page still only joins on VA. It does not estimate contractor employment, Pentagon share, or any figure absent from the packet. Virginia campaign finance and Virginia USAspending remain the two source tables. All FEC ties holds the rest of the series.

Virginia FEC receipts and party labels

Democratic committees reported $52.8 million (66.7% of $79.1 million). Republican committees reported $26.2 million (33.2%). Other filers reported $0.1 million (0.1%). Other-party receipts are a thin slice of the 960-committee book. None of those percentages may be copied onto obligations.

960 committees is a small roster relative to Virginia’s 1,181,515 awards. That is expected. Candidate registration is not award issuance. Do not call the ratio a ‘contractor-to-campaign’ index. This packet does not support that index.

Virginia obligations on USAspending.gov

$840,797,163,150 is the obligation total coded to Virginia. It includes whatever award types USAspending attributes to the state in this extract — contracts and other instruments alike. LobbyVault does not re-classify those awards by FEC party.

Open Virginia USAspending for agency and recipient detail. Open Virginia campaign finance for the {mil(raised)} receipt table. Keep the tabs labeled.

Caveat: proximity to federal agencies is not a packet fact

Public geography explains why researchers look at Virginia spending. It does not add a dollar to this file. Only $79.1 million, 960, $840,797,163,150, and 1,181,515 — plus the party lines — are packet facts. Speculating about motives of Northern Virginia donors or contractors is outside the join.

How to write a Virginia footnote

FEC.gov: $79.1 million in candidate receipts; 960 committees; Democratic $52.8 million; Republican $26.2 million; other $0.1 million. USAspending.gov: $840,797,163,150; 1,181,515 awards. State that the series are not a funding path.

Virginia researchers often want a contractor map this packet does not ship

Northern Virginia’s contractor reputation is why people open this join. It is not a number in the packet. What the packet ships is $79.1 million in FEC receipts from 960 committees and $840,797,163,150 in obligations from 1,181,515 awards. Any further split — defense versus non-defense, Fairfax versus Richmond — belongs on USAspending agency and location tools, not in invented shares here.

Democratic committees hold 66.7% of receipts. That is a campaign-committee fact for a relatively small roster of {va_f['fecCandidates']:,} filers. Copying 66.7% onto $840,797,163,150 would assign party to awards this file does not party-code.

Virginia state races file with the Virginia Department of Elections. Those filings are outside $79.1 million. Local school and city spending paid without a federal award is outside $840,797,163,150. Three disclosure systems, two of which are on this page.

Virginia campaign finance, Virginia USAspending, and All FEC ties are the links. A future packet might add agency shares. This one does not, so this prose will not.

Do not treat 960 committees as a sample of Virginia contractors. Candidate registration and SAM registration are different enrollments. Do not treat 1,181,515 awards as 1,181,515 campaigns. The only shared token is VA, sitting under $79.1 million on FEC.gov and under $840,797,163,150 on USAspending.gov.

Hampton Roads, Northern Virginia, and the rest of the Commonwealth share the VA code. This packet does not split $840,797,163,150 among them. It does not split $79.1 million among them either. 1,181,515 awards and 960 committees are statewide. Regional folklore stays in the reader’s head, not in the JSON.

Questions

Why is Virginia’s FEC total much smaller than its USAspending total?

They measure different activity. $79.1 million is what 960 candidate committees reported raising. $840,797,163,150 is what agencies obligated across 1,181,515 awards coded to Virginia. Campaign money is not the source of those obligations on this page. The modest $79.1 million FEC book next to $840,797,163,150 in obligations is evidence the ledgers differ, not evidence that Virginia campaigns are ‘underfunded’ relative to contracts.

What is Virginia’s FEC party split?

Democratic committees reported $52.8 million (66.7%) and Republican committees reported $26.2 million (33.2%) of $79.1 million. Other filers reported $0.1 million. Those shares do not describe the 1,181,515 awards. Other filers reported about $81,400. The party story on the FEC side is almost entirely Democratic $52.8 million versus Republican $26.2 million.

How many federal awards are coded to Virginia?

USAspending.gov lists 1,181,515 awards and $840,797,163,150 in obligations. That is an award-action count, not a unique-recipient count, and not a count of {cand:,} candidate committees. 1,181,515 awards is an action count. Many actions can attach to one vendor. Do not treat the integer as unique companies.

Where are Virginia’s live FEC and spending pages?

Virginia campaign finance on LobbyVault shows FEC receipts. Virginia USAspending shows obligations. All FEC ties indexes other state joins. Filings remain on FEC.gov and USAspending.gov. Use Virginia campaign finance, Virginia USAspending, and All FEC ties. Original records stay on FEC.gov and USAspending.gov.