In Wake Of Political Violence, States Use Campaign Cash For Personal Security

Since the assassinations of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and Democratic Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, more than 15 states have passed laws or approved rule changes allowing lawmakers to access campaign funds for personal security, a sign of growing concern about political violence in America.

This year alone, Utah, South Dakota, Alabama, Nebraska and Oregon changed policies to allow state lawmakers to use campaign funds for security. More states, including Tennessee, are considering such measures.

“Increased violence … was the driving force behind the legislation,” said GOP Oregon state Sen. David Brock Smith, who voted in favor of the bill the governor signed earlier this month, adding that he’s personally received death threats.

The new law, he said, will allow legislators to install security systems and cameras “to protect themselves if they are home, or their families when they're not.”

More than two dozen states, from Georgia to Minnesota, now allow certain officeholders to pay for security with campaign funds and contributions from private individuals, either through legislation, ethics rulings or decisions from their respective secretaries of state or state attorneys general. The policies differ state to state — some only allow officials to purchase video or alarm security systems, while others earmark the funds to pay for private security personnel.

“Lawmakers across the country have received threats, and in the state of Utah we've certainly seen an uptick,” said Utah Assistant Majority Whip Michael McKell, a Republican and sponsor of an elections bill that passed the Utah Legislature earlier this year. Kirk was assassinated at a university in Utah. “Over the last few years, it has become much, much more contentious.”

There have been several incidents of violence directed at political leaders in recent years, including two assassination attempts against President Donald Trump — one at a Pennsylvania campaign rally during the 2024 presidential campaign and another just two months later at his Mar-a-Lago resort — as well as the killings of Hortman and Kirk.

The motive in the first attempt on Trump’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania, remains a mystery and the shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, was killed by federal agents. Ryan Routh, the defendant in the second assassination attempt, was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. Routh, who represented himself during the trial, was said to have been worried about the war in Ukraine.

The suspect in Hortman’s killing, Vance Boelter, is facing federal murder charges, and authorities said he allegedly confessed in a letter in which he recounted a confusing and convoluted scheme to punish Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Boelter has pleaded not guilty. In Kirk’s killing, the suspect, Tyler Robinson, allegedly inscribed bullet casings with anti-fascist phrases and meme-culture phrases. A preliminary hearing in his case is scheduled to start this month.

This week, Erika Kirk pulled out of a speaking event with Vice President JD Vance at the University of Georgia due to “serious threats.”

“I take my security team’s recommendations extremely seriously,” she explained in a post on X after the event, while Turning Point USA’s Andrew Kolvet said the threats to Kirk were “a terrible reflection on the state of reality and the state of our country.”

While the deaths of Hortman and Kirk were the tragic catalysts that helped push elected officials to approve an avenue for security payments, lawmakers say their concerns began years earlier. In Oregon, Democrats first discussed protections like removing lawmakers' addresses from public record after the protests and riots of 2020 in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd.

In Utah, McKell said instances of property destruction and serious threats against lawmakers began a few years ago. The home and garage of one Utah lawmaker were painted red, McKell recalled; the wife of another official had her tires slashed; and the Utah Highway Patrol spent days parked outside a female legislator’s house due to serious threats.

“We have had ongoing discussions for the last four to eight years about how to make sure we are protected and safe,” said McKell, whose business was vandalized. “But there's no question that the events over the last year, year and a half, have made it certainly easier to pass a bill like this.”

Supporters of the policy change say the funding is necessary because legislators in general often can’t afford to pay such costs out of pocket. On average, state lawmakers received an annual salary of about $48,000 per year in 2025, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Campaign funds are seen as the best source of funding because it’s much harder to convince voters to permit the use of taxpayer funds for things like security cameras for elected officials.

In a sign of the rising fears, NCSL in February launched a $1.5 million grant for personal security expenses that state legislators can use to purchase security cameras and outdoor lighting, register for self-defense courses and get internet security monitoring services, among other things. State legislatures can also use the grant to organize group security training sessions for elected officials.

The grant came about “in response to what happened last summer really bringing to the forefront how important security is for state lawmakers,” said NCSL Associate Director of Member Outreach Katie Ziegler.