US_Congress_Demographics/get_congress_data.py

def pull_congress(year):
    from requests import post
    from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
    search_url = 'http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch1.asp'
    payload = {'congress': year}

    res = post(search_url, payload)
    if res.status_code != 200:
        raise RuntimeError('failed to pull data from bioguide!')
    soup = BeautifulSoup(res.content, 'html.parser')

    rep_table = soup.find_all('table')[1]

    def parse_dob(dob_txt):
        dob_txt = dob_txt.split('-')[0].strip()
        if dob_txt in ['', 'unknown']:
            dob = None
        else:
            # occasionally, a 'c' is thrown in, presumably for circa or an 'a.' for around
            # Just remove all non-numeric or slash chars
            dob_txt = ''.join(c for c in dob_txt if c in '0123456789/')
            # Some dates are denoted by YYYY/YYYY for an unknown birth between two years, take the average
            dob = sum(map(int, dob_txt.split('/'))) / len(dob_txt.split('/'))
        return dob

    rows = rep_table.find_all('tr')[1:]
    name = ""
    yob = ""
    while rows:
        row = rows.pop(0).find_all('td')
        try:
            name = row[0].a.get_text()
            yob = parse_dob(row[1].get_text())
        except AttributeError:
            pass
        position = row[2].get_text().strip()
        if position == 'Speaker of the House':
            continue
        party = row[3].get_text()
        state = row[4].get_text()

        yield (name, yob, position, party, state, year)


def download_all():
    from sqlite3 import connect
    conn = connect("us_congress_members.sqlite3")
    conn.executescript('''
    DROP TABLE IF EXISTS Member;

    CREATE TABLE Member (name TEXT,
                         yob FLOAT,
                         position TEXT,
                         party TEXT,
                         state TEXT,
                         congress INTEGER);
''')
    for year in range(1789, 2017):
        print(f'Downloading for year: {year}')
        for rep in pull_congress(year):
            if rep is not None:
                conn.execute('INSERT INTO Member VALUES (?,?,?,?,?,?);', rep)
    conn.commit()
    conn.close()


download_all()