Introducing SSP’s Independent Expenditure Tracker

Longtime readers of the Swing State Project are well aware that I like to keep close tabs on party committee spending, especially for those in House races. As the DCCC has begun to crank its independent expenditure shop into high gear in recent weeks, I had been toying with the idea of assembling some kind of stand-alone “tracker” of all third-party independent expenditures for House races. Egged on by Populista, I’ve finally put one together.

You can check it out here. The idea is to track “blue money” and “red money” for each contested district, bundling DCCC and NRCC expenditures with cash spent by their respective allies. As far as the visual presentation goes, it may still be a bit of a work in progress, but all the information is there.

Now, there are a few caveats: 527 electioneering expenditures, like those from Freedom’s Crotch Watch, are not filed in the same clear-cut manner as standard IEs, so we won’t be including such numbers in our tracker. (Indeed, Freedom’s Watch has been known to not file any reports at all sometimes.) I’m also not including very minor expenditures (e.g. van rentals, field supplies, or lunch for volunteers) by third parties, as the focus here is mostly on paid media campaigns. You also won’t see any expenditures made to influence primary elections, which means that you won’t see any numbers from the likes of the Club For Growth yet; we’re strictly dealing with the general election here.

So, without further ado, here it is: SSP’s House Race Independent Expenditure Tracker. Bookmark it and check it often, because I’ll be updating it daily. It will also be available as a link in the right-hand sidebar.