What Is the Difference Between FEC Candidate IDs and Committee IDs?

Applies To: Federal Election Commission

When filing with the FEC, your Candidate ID and Committee will both be 9 characters long and alpha-numeric. They are not randomly generated numbers; your Committee ID will always start with C00, but the Candidate ID will look different based on your Candidate’s election.

Candidate ID

Candidate ID will not change over time, as long as your candidate is running for the same office. H2IA03101 and S2IA00172 are both examples of a Candidate ID running for office in Iowa.

The ID starting with H means the candidate is running for House and the ID starting with S is running for Senate. Then the ID will have the state’s abbreviation within the ID.

Committee IDs

Committee IDs will always start with C00 (C-zero-zero) and the ID does not change once it is handed out. C00784082 and C00791525 are both examples of a Committee IDs for Candidates running for office in Iowa.