Dashboard
Internal operational view — not public
Total Tracked
$0
Outside spending
Flagged
0
High priority
Log Entries
0
Total documented
Watch List
9
Organizations
Quick Source Links
↗ Ethics Commission
↗ FEC Search
↗ FollowTheMoney
↗ ProPublica 990s
↗ OpenSecrets
↗ State Court Report
Recent Entries
Spending Log
Document every outside spending event with full context
Add Entry
All Entries
Monitoring Checks
Run weekly during active cycle · Reset each Monday
Weekly — Every Monday
Core Checks
Arkansas Ethics Commission — new filings since last weekark.org/sos/aec
FEC independent expenditures — filter to Arkansasfec.gov
Review Google Alert digest — all active queriesalerts.google.com
OpenSecrets outside spending — new Arkansas entriesopensecrets.org
FollowTheMoney — new Arkansas committee activityfollowthemoney.org
Check Make.com run log for any failed automation pullsmake.com
Arkansas Times + Democrat-Gazette — new campaign finance storiesarktimes.com
Monthly Deep Checks
Monthly
ProPublica — new 990 filings from all tracked orgsProPublica
Brennan Center / State Court Report — new judicial spending reportsbrennancenter.org
IRS EO — newly registered Arkansas 501(c)(4)sapps.irs.gov
Arkansas SOS — new PAC registrationssos.arkansas.gov
RSLC Judicial Fairness Initiative — national activity for AR signalsopensecrets.org
Filing Deadlines
Check AEC within 48 hours of each deadline
2026 AEC Deadlines
15Apr
Q1 Quarterly Report
Jan–Mar · All candidate and PAC committees
Soon
7days
Pre-Election Report ⚑
Filed 7 days before any election · Last-minute money — most critical
Always Watch
15Jul
Q2 Quarterly Report
Apr–Jun · Watch for primary buildup
Upcoming
15Oct
Q3 Quarterly Report ⚑
Jul–Sep · General election money — high priority check
High Priority
30days
Post-Election Report
Filed 30 days after each election · Final totals
Recurring
15Jan
Q4 Annual Report
Oct–Dec · Post-election cleanup and year-end transfers
2027
Source Directory
13 credible sources · Always cite primary sources first
Tier 1 — Primary (Official Filings)
Arkansas Ethics Commission
All AR state-level campaign contributions and expenditures. Ground truth. Check after every deadline.
↗ OpenFederal Election Commission
Federal PAC filings, independent expenditures, Super PAC activity. Catches national money early.
↗ OpenProPublica Nonprofit Explorer
IRS 990 filings for all 501(c)(4) dark money vehicles. Only window into undisclosed donor networks.
↗ OpenFollowTheMoney.org
State campaign finance aggregated all 50 states. Best for cross-state coordinated spending patterns.
↗ OpenOpenSecrets
Best single source for national organizations flowing into state races. Start here, trace downstream.
↗ OpenIRS Tax-Exempt Org Search
Search newly registered 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) orgs in Arkansas. New vehicles created each cycle.
↗ OpenTier 2 — Secondary
Ballotpedia
Quick election overviews and spending summaries. Fastest orientation before diving into primaries.
↗ OpenArkansas Times
Substantive local dark money coverage. Search archives before starting any investigation.
↗ OpenCampaign Legal Center
Legal analysis of campaign finance enforcement. Use when you find a potential filing violation.
↗ OpenIssue One
Nonpartisan dark money disclosure research. Strong context and sourcing for explainer pieces.
↗ OpenTier 3 — Specialized
State Court Report — Brennan Center
Judicial election spending nationally. Has tracked RSLC Judicial Fairness Initiative in Arkansas specifically.
↗ OpenFEC Public API
Automated pull of AR independent expenditures. Integrated via Make.com — see Automation tab.
↗ OpenAR Nonprofit News Network
Local nonprofit journalism. Good for leads before stories reach national outlets.
↗ OpenOrganization Watch List
9 permanent tracked organizations — check monthly
Tracked Organizations
| Organization | Type | Why Watch | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
RSLC Judicial Fairness Initiative | 501(c)(4) | Spent millions targeting AR Supreme Court justices. Primary judicial threat. | High |
Republican State Leadership Committee | 527/PAC | Top national funder of AR legislative races. Parent of JFI. | High |
85 Fund / Concord Fund | 501(c)(4) | Judicial conservative dark money network. Active in AR judicial elections. | High |
Governor-Aligned PACs (AR) | State PAC | Legislative primary targeting of independent-minded lawmakers. | High |
New AR-registered 501(c)(4)s | 501(c)(4) | New dark money vehicles created per cycle. Check IRS EO monthly. | High |
Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee | Party PAC | Counterpart to RSLC. Track for balance and full picture. | Medium |
Sixteen Thirty Fund | 501(c)(4) | Progressive dark money pass-through. Arabella Advisors network. | Medium |
U.S. Chamber of Commerce | 501(c)(6) | Active in AR judicial and legislative races. Pro-business judicial agenda. | Medium |
AR Civil Justice Reform Coalition | State PAC | Watch for national funding. Tort reform agenda with judicial implications. | Standard |
Alert Queries
Click any query to copy · Set up at alerts.google.com
🔴 HIGH PRIORITY — Set to "As it happens"
◈ STANDARD — Set to "Once a day"
Deliver all alerts to info@freeandfairar.com — the same Google account as your Workspace. High-priority alerts set to "As it happens." Standard set to "At most once a day."
Automation Setup
Connect Make.com → FEC API → Google Sheet → Public Monitor
How the Automation Works
Daily flow: Make.com hits the FEC API → filters for Arkansas → appends new entries to your Google Sheet → sends an email digest to info@freeandfairar.com. The public monitor page reads the Sheet automatically and updates. Manual entries added here in the private log can also be exported into the Sheet.
Step 1 — Create Your Google Sheet
1
Create a new Google Sheet
Go to sheets.google.com → New Sheet → name it "FFA Dark Money Log".
Set up these column headers in row 1 exactly as shown:
Set up these column headers in row 1 exactly as shown:
date | entity | amount | race | type | priority | source | notes
2
Publish the Sheet as a CSV
File → Share → Publish to web → Select "Sheet 1" → Format: CSV → Publish. Copy the URL. It will look like:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/YOUR_ID/pub?gid=0&single=true&output=csv
3
Paste the URL into monitor.html
Open monitor.html → find the line that says
const SHEET_CSV_URL = '' → paste your published CSV URL between the quotes → re-upload to Vercel. The public dashboard will now read live data.Step 2 — Set Up Make.com FEC Automation
1
Create a new Scenario in Make.com
Log into make.com → Create new scenario → Name it "FFA — FEC Daily Pull"
2
Module 1: Schedule trigger
Add a "Schedule" module → Set to run every day at 7:00 AM
3
Module 2: HTTP GET — FEC API (Independent Expenditures)
Add an "HTTP → Make a request" module → Method: GET → URL:
https://api.fec.gov/v1/schedules/schedule_e/?state=AR&sort=-expenditure_date&per_page=20&api_key=DEMO_KEY
Replace DEMO_KEY with your free key from api.data.gov/signup
4
Module 3: JSON Parse the response
Add "JSON → Parse JSON" module → connect output from HTTP module → parse the
results array5
Module 4: Google Sheets — Add a Row
Add "Google Sheets → Add a Row" module → connect to your FFA Dark Money Log sheet → Map fields:
date → expenditure_date
entity → committee_name
amount → expenditure_amount
race → candidate_name
type → "Super PAC / Independent Expenditure"
priority → "standard"
source → "FEC Auto-Pull"
notes → support_oppose_indicator + " " + purpose_description
6
Module 5: Gmail — Send digest email
Add "Gmail → Send an Email" module → To: info@freeandfairar.com → Subject: "FFA Daily Monitor — {{today}}" → Body: summary of new entries found. Run the scenario once manually to test, then activate.
7
Add a Filter (avoid duplicate entries)
Between the JSON parse and Google Sheets modules, add a Filter → condition: expenditure_date ≥ yesterday's date. This ensures only new filings are appended each day.
Step 3 — Remove the Setup Notice from monitor.html
✓
Once data is flowing, hide the placeholder
In monitor.html, find the div with id="setup-notice" and add
style="display:none" to hide it. Re-upload to Vercel.