Overview
- The Public Service Alliance report, released Thursday, says federal campaign and political committees spent more than $40 million on security in 2023–24, over five times the 2015–16 level.
- Spending has shifted toward digital protections such as hacking defense and online threat monitoring, which rose from about $50,000 in 2015–16 to $900,000 in 2023–24, and toward home measures like alarms and cameras that reached nearly $1 million over the past decade with $305,400 in 2023–24.
- The totals likely understate true costs because Federal Election Commission filings require only brief purchase descriptions, which obscure whether spending is proactive or a response to incidents.
- The report links the spending spike to a harsher climate that has included doxing and high-profile attacks, and it warns rising security bills can discourage people from running for office.
- States are starting to respond, with Utah clarifying that candidates can use campaign funds for security systems, Minnesota proposing to hide home addresses and exempt home upgrades from spending limits, and the National Conference of State Legislatures launching a security support fund in February.