Is --state flag working?

[jeremiak]

Hey, thanks for libfec! I'm trying to download all of the contributions for federal elections in California this year but the data that is downloaded has data for Chip Roy's committee (C00662767) as well as other non-California campaigns. Here's the command I'm running (with my actual FEC API key, of course), am I using it correctly?

libfec export --cycle 2026 --form-type F3 --office H --state CA --api-key <<FECAPIKEY>> -o fec.db

[asg017]

Hey thanks for the report! oof ya looks like the --state flag isn't filtering anything so everything gets exported, taking a look!

[asg017]

btw temporary workaround, use the --election flag instead of --cycle:

libfec export --election 2026 --form-type F3 --office H --state CA -o fec.db

That gave me 597 filings, all F3's and all from CA.

The main issue is that --cycle 2026 is meant to get every committee who filed something in 205-2026, regardless of if their election is happening that year (ie senate campaigns that happen in 2028). But it's pretty awkward to do this because the way committees report cycle/election years are all over the place.

The --election flag will specifically filter for principal campaign committees who are running in an election taking place that year! Hoping to clean up/document this behavior very soon.

Also pro tip - the LIBFEC_API_KEY will save you from using --api-key over and over again!

[jeremiak]

OK thanks, those tips are both really helpful!