Report: Campaign Security Costs Top $100 Million

Increased threats of political violence have forced federal campaigns and committees to spend more than $100 million on security, according to a report released this month by a public service advocacy group.

The report from the Security Project at the nonpartisan Public Service Alliance stated that in the 2023-24 election cycle, federal campaigns and committees spent at least $104 million on security, about five times more than in the 2015-16 cycle.

"Violent threats against public servants, their families, and their coworkers are rising across America, at all levels of government and across the political and ideological spectrum, with women and people of color at disproportionate risk," the report stated. "These threats have been documented at public servants' main places of work, their satellite offices, their campaign stops, their public forums, their homes, and even third locations where public servants socially gather or otherwise visit on their own personal time."

The report drew on a large volume of expenses reported by federal campaigns and committees over the past decade, made available by the Federal Election Commission.

The report cited FEC data spanning the past five federal campaign cycles (2015-16, 2017-18, 2019-20, 2021-22, and 2023-24). It said the data yielded a conservative, minimum spending estimate.

The estimated $104 million spent on security in the past decade went toward personal protection measures and digital monitoring, the report said.

House campaigns spent at least $6.7 million, Senate campaigns spent at least $11.7 million, and presidential campaigns spent at least $23.1 million.

Campaigns and committees spent the most on securing events such as town halls and voter registration rallies. That category totaled more than $5 million.

Spending on digital services, including threat monitoring and cybersecurity, amounted to nearly $1.4 million, according to the report.

It also found that nearly $900,000 was spent on home security features, including alarms, fencing, and window upgrades. That category did not account for any security expenses in the 2015-16 cycle.

The report stated that in the 2023-24 cycle, the top recipients of security spending in aggregate, such as home alarm companies, surveillance camera firms, or physical security providers, were based in California ($8,697,854.17), Florida ($6,991,730.95), and Virginia ($4,762,923.39).

"Importantly, these numbers are a conservative, minimum estimate of the total [spent] on federal campaign and committee security expenses — meaning the actual numbers are likely even higher," the report stated. "They also do not account for all relevant government-incurred costs, such as U.S. Secret Service protection assigned to certain presidential candidates."

U.S. Capitol Police said in January that the number of threat assessment cases climbed for the third year in a row.

In 2025, the Capitol Police Threat Assessment Section investigated 14,938 concerning statements, behavior, and communications directed against members of Congress, their families, staff, and the Capitol complex.

"While security on Capitol grounds has already improved, we have been strengthening our partnerships with law enforcement agencies across the country to keep the members of Congress safe when they are away from Capitol Hill," U.S. Capitol Police Chief Michael Sullivan said in a news release. "We want to make sure agencies have the resources they need to be able to enhance protection, which is critical to the democratic process."

Members of Congress of both political parties receive a wide range of threats and concerning statements, Capitol Police said, which can be sent through the mail, email, telephone, and social media.

Capitol Police said investigations have increased in recent years because people have a false sense of anonymity online.