One query works; the other doesn't.

Question

Can someone tell me the difference in these two queries?

This one returns data.
SELECT * FROM tblFEC_Raw_Data
INNER JOIN tblStates
ON tblFEC_Raw_Data.CAND_OFFICE_ST = dbo.tblStates.StateAbbrv;

This one doesn’t.
SELECT * FROM tblFEC_Raw_Data
INNER JOIN tblCand_Office
ON tblFEC_Raw_Data.CAND_OFFICE = dbo.tblCand_Office.Office;

The table tblCand_Office contains the following entries.
1 House
2 President
3 Senate
What is happening?

Answer 1

I guess then that there is no data in tblFEC_Raw_Data.CandOffice that has any of these three values.

For a deeper analysis, I would CREATE TABLE + INSERT that demonstrates the problem. With the information you have provided now, guess is all I can offer.