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.
How do these IDs appear on FEC reports?
Sometimes, it can be confusing why the committee ID or the candidate ID is pulling to a report.
The committee ID will pull to the report if:
- The Support/Oppose Memo is to a committee, regardless of whether the original (parent) entity is the same or different. For example, an expense to ABC Printing with the S/O Memo to DSCC. Or an expense to DSCC with the S/O Memo to DSCC will pull the Committee ID of the S/O Memo.
- The S/O Memo is the candidate associated with the original (parent) entity. For example, an expense to Catherine Cortez Masto for Senate with a S/O Memo to Catherine Cortez Masto.
- If it’s an expense to a random vendor, like Staples, with a S/O Memo to a candidate (Joe Jones), the Committee ID associated with the related candidate committee (Joe Jones for President) will not pull to the report. However, the candidate ID will be pulled and displayed in the report.