Politicians Are Spending More Money on Security as They Increasingly Become Targets

Federal campaign and political action committee spending on security during the 2024 election cycle was over five times the amount spent ahead of the 2016 election , according to a new report published on Thursday.

The report by the Security Project at the nonpartisan group Public Service Alliance notes that the jump in spending comes as violent threats against public servants and their families are rising at all levels of government.

Justin Sherman, interim vice president of the Security Project and the author of the report, finds the rising costs of addressing such threats concerning and says for some candidates it can create additional financial pressure.

“No candidate, regardless of party, regardless of where in the country they're running, should have to weigh serving in public office against threats to them or their families,” Sherman says.

A Minnesota Star Tribune investigation recently found that threats against Minnesota State Capitol workers had increased from 18 incidents in 2024 to 92 in 2025, and that in the first two months of 2026, there were 45.

Other research from the Public Service Alliance has found that reported threats against public servants’ families increased 3,700 percent between 2015 and 2025, and a 2025 survey last year from Pew Research Center found an overwhelming number of Americans on both sides of the political spectrum agreed that politically motivated violence is increasing.

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 the report identifies are related to securing campaign events, spending on digital security, such as data deletion or online threat monitoring services, has skyrocketed.

According to the report, campaigns and committees spent just over $900,000 in the 2023–2024 cycle, compared to around $184,000 in the cycle eight years prior—a nearly 400 percent increase.

Sherman says that limitations in the FEC data can make it difficult to track whether security spending is proactive or reactive.

Disbursement forms filled out by campaigns only require a brief description for what was purchased and don’t typically include much else.

Minnesota state senator Bonnie Westlin was among the legislators targeted this summer by a man who shot and killed her colleague, Representative Melissa Hortman, and Hortman’s husband, Mark.

This session, she and state senator John Hoffman, who was also shot by the gunman along with his wife the night the Hortmans were killed, have introduced a bill that aims to make it easier for candidates to protect themselves.

In addition to campaign spending, NCSL recently launched a fund in February that would allow states to provide money for their legislators to invest in personal security.

The funds, which would have to be provided equally to every lawmaker regardless of their political affiliation, could be used for things like privacy monitoring services or self-defense training, says Katie Zeigler, NCSL’s associate director of outreach and engagement.

“There's been lots of interest and gratitude among the legislators we've spoken to.”
“It sort of breaks my heart that we’ve reached a point where running for office in some cases has meant risking your life, and in the case of Mark and Melissa, actually losing their lives,” Westlin tells WIRED.

“That’s not what public service should include.

We’re all here to do the work for our communities and our state.”