Find Prolific Political Contributors

This tool uses publicly available data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to identify individuals in your zip code who have made reportable contributions more than 100 times in any election cycle. This information is interesting because high numbers of contributions may be an indicator of money laundering and campaign finance fraud (a practice known as “smurfing”). 

To use the tool, open the STATE box on the left below, then click on the check mark next to STATE to uncheck all the states in the list. Then type in the abbreviation for your state and check the box for your state, then close the box. You will see a ranked list of the most prolific contributors in your state, with the total number of contributions, and number of contributions for each election cycle over the last ten years. To access the top contributors in your zip code, simply click the zip code box, then click on the check mark next to cleaned_zip_code to uncheck all the zip codes in the list, then type in your zip code and check that box.

This may not be the latest available data. To get that, you can click on the Link to FEC next to an individual’s name for each record below.

What Next?

Have you ever wondered why your representative votes against public opinion on an issue you care about? Smurfing is everywhere, and degrades the quality of democratic representation for everyone. A likely explanation for a vote against majority interests or wishes is that the representative was actually voting in the interest of his largest, secret and illegal, donor.

If you have found smurfing in your state or zip code, spread the word, and advocate for eradication of secret, illegal, immoral, and undemocratic campaign funding.
• Meet with some of the victims of identity fraud, let them know what happened, and tell their story though video or print. Initial indications are that senior citizens are typically targeted by smurfers.
• Share your findings with media organizations, pro-democracy groups, and legal defenders (O’Keefe Media Group has an ongoing investigations of smurfing, and is looking for video tips).
• File complaints with the Federal Elections Commission.
• Help senior citizens who have been smurfed file identity theft complaints with local law enforcement agencies