Politicians are spending more money on security as they increasingly become targets

Federal campaign and Political Action Committee spends on security during 2024 election cycle It was more than five times the amount spent before 2016 electionsAccording to a new report published on Thursday.

the a report By the Security Project in the nonpartisan group Public Service Alliance points out that the jump in spending is coming as Violent threats against public officials Their families rise at all levels of government. Justin Sherman, interim vice president of the Security Project and author of the report, finds the rising costs of addressing such threats troubling and says for some candidates it could create additional financial stress.

“No candidate, no matter their party, no matter where they are running in the country, should have to balance serving in public office with threats to themselves or their families,” Sherman says.

And the Minnesota Star Tribune investigation It recently found that threats against Minnesota State Capitol workers increased from 18 incidents in 2024 to 92 incidents in 2025, and that in the first two months of 2026, there were 45 incidents. research A report from the Public Service Alliance found that reported threats against the families of public employees increased by 3,700 percent between 2015 and 2025, and in 2025 reconnaissance Last year, the Pew Research Center found that an overwhelming number of Americans on both sides of the political spectrum agree that politically motivated violence is on the rise.

The Public Service Alliance report looks at spending data tracked by the Federal Election Commission over the past 10 years. While a large portion of the costs identified by the report are related to securing election campaign events, spending on digital security, such as data deletion or online threat monitoring services, has risen significantly. According to the report, campaigns and committees spent just over $900,000 in the 2023-2024 cycle, compared to about $184,000 in the previous eight-year cycle, an increase of nearly 400%.

The report also says spending on securing candidates’ homes, such as purchasing home alarms and fencing, also increased, doubling from about $130,000 during the 2017-2018 cycle to just over $300,000 in the 2023-2024 cycle.

Sherman says limitations in FEC data may make it difficult to track whether security spending is proactive or reactive. The disbursement forms that campaigns fill out only require a brief description of what was purchased and usually include nothing else.

At the state level, legislatures are considering reforms that would ensure political candidates can pay to secure their offices, homes and personal information while on the campaign trail. Currently, only a few states have laws that explicitly state that candidates can use campaign funds to pay for security, says Helen Brewer, a senior policy specialist at the National Conference of State Legislatures. Brewer says lawmakers said they’ve seen an uptick in threats and incidents, and this is happening to people on both sides of the aisle in different states. “People are seeing it everywhere, which is unfortunate,” Brewer says.

Utah State Senator Mike McKell is currently serving his 14th year in his state legislature, which he does in addition to being a practicing attorney. In recent years, he says, his law firm has been vandalized, and his colleagues on both sides of the aisle have been vandalized, had their tires slashed, and been targeted in other ways.

McKell recently helped pass Election law It includes language clarifying that candidates and office holders can use campaign funds to purchase security systems for their offices, homes and workplaces. (Utah is a part-time state legislature.) “The part of my bill I hate the most is the part about security — but that’s because we need it, and because it’s a problem in Utah,” McKell says.