Who started SignalData
SignalData is an open-records project founded by Dean Abrams, a no-party-affiliation candidate for governor of Florida. Its purpose is simple: to put Florida’s state and local public money where anyone can see it.
Every figure is checked against public records, his own included. Any File that covers his race says so at the top, and SignalData does not endorse any candidate.
How we work
- Records first. Figures come from public records: Florida Division of Elections filings, Department of Financial Services payments, FACTS contracts, Sunbiz corporate filings, federal lobbying disclosures and similar sources. Where we rely on another newsroom’s reporting before the records are pulled, the figure is labeled “reported” and the newsroom is credited and linked.
- One measure at a time. Payments, amounts owed, contract ceilings and political contributions are different things. We never add them together or put them on one axis.
- Everyone, including $0. When a File shows who received money from a source, it also shows who received none.
- No inference from a relationship. A contribution and a contract appearing in the same File is not evidence that one caused the other. Each File says plainly what its records do not show.
- History is fenced off. Historical studies are labeled with their years and never summed with current figures.
- Preview status. SignalData is in preview. Figures still being reconciled to original records are labeled that way, and each File carries a source register with its status.
Corrections
We correct errors promptly and in the open. Each correction is dated and listed here and on the File it affects.
No corrections yet. SignalData preview opened Oct. 16, 2026.
To report an error, write to corrections@signaldata.org with the page, the figure, and the record that shows the correct value.
Contact
Tips and records: tips@signaldata.org.