tecfilingfetcher 0.1.1

Installation

pip install tecfilingfetcher

How it works

Pretty straightforward:

usage: fetchfiling [-h] [-t {contributions,expenditures}] [-s]
                   filing_id [filing_id ...]

positional arguments:
  filing_id             The TEC filing ID(s) to fetch

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -t {contributions,expenditures}, --type {contributions,expenditures}
                        The type of data you want to get
  -s, --simple          Returns only basic fields, good if you only want
                        numbers

Examples

$ fetchfiling -s -t contributions 580604  # Texans for Rick Perry's July 2013 Semiannual

..

Unique ID,Entity Code,Last/Organization Name,First Name(s),Title,Suffix,Street Address 1,Street Address 2,City,State,ZIP Code,Date,Amount/In-kind Value,Description,Employer,Principal Occupation/Job Title,Travel Outside Texas (If In-kind)
2,IND,London,Stacy,,,,,Houston,TX,77024,20130617,400.00,,Self,Real Estate,
1,IND,Cantwell,Michael,,,,,Leander,TX,78641,20130617,100.00,,,,
28,IND,Anwar,S. Javaid,Mr. and Mrs.,,,,Midland,TX,79705,20130620,16250.00,(See travel info),Midland Energy,Owner/President,X
2,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,X
3,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,X
4,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,X
3,IND,Jones,Dale,,,,,Coppell,TX,75019,20130624,500.00,,Best Efforts,Best Efforts,
4,IND,Holmes,William,,,,,El Paso,TX,79912,20130624,1000.00,,Best Efforts,Best Efforts,
5,IND,Musil,Stephen,,,,,Cedar Park,TX,78613,20130624,25.00,,,,
6,IND,Vazquez,Laura,,,,,El Paso,TX,79936,20130624,25.00,,,,
7,IND,Lott,Thomas,Mr.,,,,Fulshear,TX,77441,20130624,100.00,,Andarko Petroleum,Geologist,
8,IND,Brunone,Dominick,,,,,The Hills,TX,78738,20130624,25.00,,,,
9,IND,Ciaccio,Michael,,,,,Sugar Land,TX,77496,20130624,10.00,,,,
10,IND,DiLorenzo,Mary,Ms.,,,,Bethpage,NY,11714,20130624,100.00,,Suffolk County National Bank,VP Financial Reporting Manager,
11,IND,Higginbotham,Lou,Ms.,,,,Dallas,TX,75205,20130624,500.00,,Retired,Retired,
12,IND,Baker,James,,,,,San Marcos,TX,78666,20130624,25.00,,Self,Real Estate,
15,IND,Holdren,David,Mr.,,,,San Angelo,TX,76903,20130625,10.00,,Retired,Retired,
14,IND,Pappas,Peter,,,,,Rockbridge,MO,65741,20130625,25.00,,Best Efforts,Best Efforts,
16,IND,Eskridge,Robert,,,,,Round Rock,TX,78681,20130625,100.00,,,,

The filing fetcher outputs to stdout – if you need to save it, direct it into a file.

fetchfiling -s -t contributions 580604 > texans_for_rick_perry_july13.csv

You can now fetch multiple reports in one swoop by passing in space-separated filing IDs. You should probably only do this if you are fetching multiple reports for the same filer. The reports themselves do not identify which row belongs to which filer, so make sure all of your IDs refer to the same one!

$ fetchfiling -s -t contributions 580604 599270  # Texans for Rick Perry's July 2013 Semiannual + January 2014 Semiannual

But wait… where do I get those IDs?

The Texas Ethics Commission, via the campaign finance search form. For example, you can find Texans for Rick Perry filing IDs on this page.