Small Money Commission Certification options for Federal Candidates

For the 2020 election

Federal races are much different then state and local races for a number of reasons. They are often more expensive, some candidates get national attention from individual and non-individual donors, and a lot of donors prioritize donating to federal candidates over state/local. To qualify for research, candidates must receive at least $10,000 in campaign contributions.  

Because of that, we've established three possible certifications for federal candidates. 

**Small Money Certified Federal**
These candidates have gotten the majority of their donations from individuals who live in Maryland and their average donation size is under $300

**Small Money Certified Federal Super Donors**
These candidates have gotten the majority of their donations from individuals who live in Maryland and their average donation size is over $300

**Small Money Certified Federal: National Attention**
These candidates have gotten the majority of their donations from individuals, but the majority do not live in Maryland.

Additional Notes:

For federal candidates, we did not scrutinize the profession of individual donors, but if that is something that you are interested or concerned about we recommend you do you your own research on the FEC.gov website.

Federal certification is based only on the information reported to the FEC for their federal campaign committee. Many candidates currently hold state office and therefore have a second campaign committee. Information for their state campaign committee can be found on the Maryland Campaign Reporting Information System (CRIS.) Federal campaign committee certification does not guarantee state campaign committee certification.