Spotlight Delaware has launched the Campaign Finance Explorer, its free, easy-to-use tool for the public to see who is funding candidates running for state and county offices, ahead of the November general election.
Our independent, nonprofit newsroom was founded with a mission to advance transparency in government and political campaigns, and with outside spending reaching unforeseen levels for a midterm election, we are giving the public easier insights to those efforts than ever before.
The Explorer tool was built using publicly available campaign finance filings from 2025 and 2026, but utilizes a user-friendly interface that allows viewers to see how candidates compare in an individual race and what third-party support may be influencing public perception of campaigns.
The information is sortable by candidates, donors and races and displays how much support a candidate has garnered from Delawareans versus those from other states, as well as support from third-party organizations that cannot legally coordinate with their campaign but certainly amplify messaging that nonetheless aids their run.
The primary election tool was viewed by many hundreds of Delawareans and the latest update builds upon that work.
“Our Explorer tool proved popular with voters and political insiders as we aim to make who is funding our politicians easier to understand,” said Jacob Owens, the editor in chief of Spotlight Delaware. “If the primary election season told us anything, it’s to expect more money flowing into even our smallest races.”
Information in the Campaign Finance Explorer is up-to-date through the first legally required deadline ahead the Nov. 3 general election, and will be updated again after the Oct. 28 deadline for 8-day reports.
The tool, along with race and district locator maps released last month, was custom-built using ChatGPT 5.6 as part of Spotlight Delaware’s participation in the American Journalism Project, Blue Engine and Google News Initiative’s AI News Sustainability cohort program.