Campaign Finance Dashboard (Sneak Peak!)

The first stage of launching Transparency Alabama is creating our campaign finance dashboard. This dashboard will allow the public to view:

  • A map of Alabama's various districts

  • Their elected officials for a given district and how much money they took from which donors

  • Layman-friendly breakdowns of the major donors in the state or in user-selected areas

  • The overall spatial distribution of major donors' influence (ex: where does x donor spend a lot of money, and what does that potentially reveal about their activity or plans in that area)

  • Layman-friendly breakdowns of the major PACs in Alabama, who funds them, and what their (potential) interests are in a given election

Transparency

✳︎

Accountability

✳︎

Education

✳︎

Empowerment

✳︎

Transparency ✳︎ Accountability ✳︎ Education ✳︎ Empowerment ✳︎

What Will The Campaign Finance Dashboard Allow Us To Do?

Through the Campaign Finance Dashboard and its parent data warehouse, we’ll be able to ask (and answer!) research questions related to the campaign donations accepted by our elected leaders. Below are examples of research questions we were able to answer using our (now outdated*) initial dataset.

*Please note the following graphs are based on an initial incomplete dataset that includes then-current state House Representatives, state senators, and Alabama Supreme Court justices. It does not include other elected judges, county, municipal, or other elected leaders across the state and does not include campaign finance data from 2025. But our updated dataset will, so stay posted!

Research Question: How much does each kind of contributor type (PACs, individuals, businesses, etc) contribute overall to elected politicians? Which kind of contributor has the most influence?

Answer: PACs

Research Question: How do elected leaders’ total contribution amounts compare to one another (sorted by total received campaign donations)?

Answer: The single person who received the most donations across all elected leaders was Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh, former President of the Alabama Public Service Commission.

Research Question: How much has each distinct contributor donated (total) to all of the elected leaders we have data for (i.e., state house, state senate, and AL Supreme Ct)? Which contributor donated the most overall?

Answer: Progress PAC

Research Question: Given a particular elected official, like Twinkle Cavanaugh, who are their largest campaign donors?

Answer: Cavanaugh’s 3 largest donors were TWINKLE FOR ALABAMA, ENPAC, and JOBS PAC.

We will be able to analyze this same kind of donor breakdown for every politician (whether they were elected or lost) who files their campaign finance data with the Alabama Secretary of State.

Research Question: What is the contribution breakdown for all of PROGRESS PAC’s donations to elected leaders?

Answer: Top 5 based on then-current data:

1) Tom Parker, former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.

2) Twinkle Cavanaugh, former President of the AL Public Service Commission. Currently serves as the State Director of Rural Development in Alabama for the USDA.

3) James “Jay” Mitchell, former Alabama Supreme Court Justice. Currently running for Alabama Attorney General (2026).

4) Greg Shaw, Alabama Supreme Court Justice.

5) Tom Butler, Alabama State Senator for the 2nd District.

Get In Touch

Interested in helping us build our dashboard? Fill out our Volunteer Interest Form!