Campaign Expenditures in the United States, 1995-1996: Reports on Financial Activity (RFA) Data

<p>The file contains information on the campaigns of all individuals who have registered under the Federal Election Campaign Act as 1995 or 1996 candidates for the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives. As such, the file includes a number of individuals who may not be statutory candidates under the 1979 Amendments to the FECA, e.g., someone seeking nomination to federal office who has not received contributions or made expenditures aggregating in excess of $5,000. Also included are some individuals who have been certified by the appropriate state authorities as official Senate or House candidates in a 1995 or 1996 primary, runoff, or general election but who have not registered as candidates under the FECA. A campaign includes the candidate, the principal campaign committee as designated by the candidate, and any committees authorized by the candidate to accept contributions or make expenditures for the campaign. This definition of a campaign does not include 1) any office account committee associated with a member of Congress, or 2) any joint fundraising committee authorized by the candidate in conjunction with other candidates or committees. N.B. The file for 1995-96 does include committees authorized by 1995 or 1996 candidates which exist solely for the purpose of repaying debts from previous elections. Candidates may choose to authorize a separate committee for this purpose, or they may use one committee for both current and past activity. As the latter alternative has become more common, fewer so called "debt" committees have existed, and two candidates undertaking exactly the same activity (i.e., debt retirement) would be treated differently if debt committees were excluded.</p>

本文件包含所有根据《联邦选举竞选法》（Federal Election Campaign Act, FECA）注册为1995或1996年美国参议院或众议院候选人的个人的竞选活动信息。因此，本文件包含若干可能不符合《联邦选举竞选法》1979年修正案规定的法定候选人资格的个人，例如，寻求联邦职位提名但未收到捐款或支出总额未超过5000美元的人士。文件还包含一些经相应州当局认证为1995或1996年初选、决选或普选中参议院或众议院正式候选人，但未根据《联邦选举竞选法》注册为候选人的个人。竞选活动包括候选人、候选人指定的主要竞选委员会，以及候选人授权接受捐款或为竞选活动支出的任何委员会。本竞选活动的定义不包括：1）与国会议员相关的任何办公室账户委员会；2）候选人与其他候选人或委员会联合授权的任何联合筹款委员会。注意：1995-96年度的文件确实包含1995或1996年候选人授权的、仅为偿还往届选举债务而存在的委员会。候选人可选择为此目的授权一个单独的委员会，或使用一个委员会同时处理当前和过往活动。由于后者日益普遍，所谓的“债务”委员会数量减少；若排除债务委员会，则从事完全相同活动（即债务清偿）的两名候选人将受到不同对待。