`search_candidates`

Pack: open-fec · Endpoint: https://gateway.pipeworx.io/open-fec/mcp

Search federal election candidates by name, state, or party. Returns candidate ID, name, party, office, state, district, and election years. Example: search_candidates(“Biden”, state=“DE”, party=“DEM”)

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
`_apiKey`	string	yes	OpenFEC API key
`query`	string	yes	Candidate name to search (e.g., “Sanders”)
`state`	string	no	Two-letter state code (e.g., “CA”, “NY”)
`party`	string	no	Party code: “DEM”, “REP”, “LIB”, “GRE”, etc.

Example call

Arguments

{
  "query": "Sanders",
  "_apiKey": "your-open-fec-api-key"
}

curl

curl -X POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/open-fec/mcp \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"search_candidates","arguments":{"query":"Sanders","_apiKey":"your-open-fec-api-key"}}}'

TypeScript (@pipeworx/sdk)

import { Pipeworx } from '@pipeworx/sdk';
const pipeworx = new Pipeworx();

const result = await pipeworx.call('search_candidates', {
  "query": "Sanders",
  "_apiKey": "your-open-fec-api-key"
});

More examples

{
  "query": "Biden",
  "state": "DE",
  "party": "DEM",
  "_apiKey": "your-open-fec-api-key"
}

Response shape

Always returns: total, returned, candidates

Field	Type	Description
`total`	number	Total count of candidates matching search criteria
`returned`	number	Number of candidates returned in this response
`candidates`	array	Array of candidate records

Full JSON Schema

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "total": {
      "type": "number",
      "description": "Total count of candidates matching search criteria"
    },
    "returned": {
      "type": "number",
      "description": "Number of candidates returned in this response"
    },
    "candidates": {
      "type": "array",
      "description": "Array of candidate records",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
          "candidate_id": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "FEC candidate ID"
          },
          "name": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "Candidate full name"
          },
          "party": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "Party affiliation"
          },
          "state": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "State code"
          },
          "district": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "Congressional district"
          },
          "office": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "Office sought (President, Senator, Representative, etc.)"
          },
          "incumbent_challenge": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "Incumbent or challenger status"
          },
          "status": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "Candidate status"
          },
          "election_years": {
            "type": "array",
            "items": {
              "type": "number"
            },
            "description": "Years candidate ran in elections"
          },
          "has_raised_funds": {
            "type": [
              "boolean",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "Whether candidate has raised campaign funds"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "total",
    "returned",
    "candidates"
  ]
}

Connect

Add this to your MCP client config, or use one-click install buttons:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "open-fec": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/open-fec/mcp"
    }
  }
}

See Getting Started for client-specific install steps.

search_candidates