There are many groups concerned with the role that money plays in politics. While there have been some steps taken at the federal level to address campaign finance reform, the state and local level are not as restrictive. In Indiana there are no limits to the contributions an individual can make to state and local candidates. Corporations and labor unions are limited in their aggregate contributions to all candidates at a specific level.

This project is creating a searchable database of campaign finance reports (contributions and expenditures) beginning with 1998 and continuing to the present for city and county candidates in Indiana. This database will be available via the Mike Downs Center website. Users of the website will be able to review and evaluate how a campaign was financed as well as all contributions made by specific individuals, corporations, and labor unions to all campaigns. Users will have a new way to evaluate a campaign.