OpenSecrets PACs Scraper

OpenSecrets PACs Scraper

Scrape Political Action Committee data from OpenSecrets for any election cycle, up to a million PACs per run. Each PAC comes with its name, total receipts, spending, and cash on hand. No API key required. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

Tracking PAC money across election cycles means digging through OpenSecrets manually or building a custom scraper. This Actor reads the public PAC directory directly, filtered by election cycle, and returns each committee in one fixed schema. You get the financial totals without writing a single line of code.

Who uses it	What they scrape OpenSecrets for
Campaign finance researchers	Compare PAC fundraising and spending across multiple election cycles.
Journalists	Pull the latest PAC financials for a story on political spending.
Nonprofits and watchdogs	Monitor which PACs are raising the most money in a given cycle.
Political consultants	Identify well-funded PACs for potential outreach or partnership.

What it does

This Actor collects Political Action Committee records from OpenSecrets by election cycle and returns each one as a flat row.

• 🗳️ Election cycle filter: pick any cycle from 1990 to 2026 and get the PACs active in that period.
• 📊 Financial totals: each record includes total receipts, total disbursements, and cash on hand.
• 📦 Bulk collection: set a high maxItems to pull thousands of PACs in a single run.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with OpenSecrets data

🗳️ Compare PAC finances across cycles.

A researcher runs the Actor for 2020, 2022, and 2024, then merges the datasets to see how fundraising trends changed.

📰 Build a story on political money.

A journalist scrapes the current cycle, sorts by total receipts, and identifies the top ten PACs for an article.

📈 Monitor fundraising leaders.

A watchdog group runs the Actor weekly for the 2026 cycle to track which PACs are pulling ahead in contributions.

🎯 Find well-funded PACs.

A consultant scrapes the 2024 cycle, filters for PACs with high cash on hand, and builds a prospect list.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key	Reads the public OpenSecrets PAC directory directly.
Fixed schema	Every PAC returns the same fields, ready for analysis.
Bulk exports	Save results as CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

How it compares

No other Store actor targets OpenSecrets the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

	OpenSecrets PACs Scraper	Build it in-house	By hand
Setup	Run it now, zero config	Days of engineering	None, but hours per pull
When OpenSecrets changes	Maintained for you	You fix it	You re-learn the page
Proxies, retries, anti-bot	Built in	Your problem	Browser only
Output	Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export	Whatever you build	Copy-paste
Cost	Pay per result	Engineering time	Analyst hours

Configure the run

Drive the Actor by election cycle and a maximum item count, and filters run as each PAC is read so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
  "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
  "maxItems": 200
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.021 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$2.10
1,000 results	$21.00
10,000 results	$210.00

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the OpenSecrets PACs Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to OpenSecrets through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/opensecrets-pacs-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check that the election cycle you selected has data. Older cycles may have fewer PACs. Also, increase the maxItems value in case the default is too low.

The run stopped before reaching maxItems.

The Actor stops when it has scraped all available PACs for the selected cycle. Try a different cycle or verify that OpenSecrets is reachable.

Some PACs are missing financial totals.

OpenSecrets may not have complete financial data for every PAC in every cycle. Missing values appear as empty fields in the dataset.

The run timed out.

Large maxItems values can take time. Increase the run timeout in the Apify actor settings, or reduce maxItems and run multiple batches.

I see an error about the website being blocked.

The Actor respects OpenSecrets' robots.txt and uses polite delays. If you hit a block, wait a few minutes and try again, or reduce the maxItems to lighten the load.

FAQ

Question	Answer
What is a PAC in this dataset?	A Political Action Committee registered with the FEC and tracked by OpenSecrets. The Actor returns its name, total receipts, total disbursements, and cash on hand for the selected election cycle.
Which election cycles can I scrape?	You can choose any cycle from 1990 through 2026. The default is 2024.
Do I need an OpenSecrets API key?	No. The Actor reads the public PAC directory pages, so no registration or key is required.
How many PACs can I collect in one run?	You set the maximum with the maxItems field, up to 1,000,000. The Actor stops when it reaches that number or runs out of PACs for the cycle.
What format does the data come in?	The default dataset is JSON. You can also export to CSV, Excel, or XML from the Apify run console.
Does this Actor get individual donor names?	No. This Actor scrapes the PAC summary directory. For individual donations, you need a different scraper that targets donor records.
Can I filter by PAC type or industry?	The current version filters by election cycle only. You can apply additional filtering on the exported dataset using a tool like Excel or Python.
How often is the OpenSecrets data updated?	OpenSecrets updates its PAC data regularly as new FEC filings come in. Run the Actor on a schedule to capture the latest numbers.
Is this Actor affiliated with OpenSecrets?	No. This is an independent scraper built by a third party. It is not endorsed by or affiliated with OpenSecrets.
Can I run this Actor on a schedule?	Yes. Apify supports scheduled runs. Set it to run weekly or monthly to track PAC finances over time.

Related actors

Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by OpenSecrets. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.