New Jersey is poised to allow political candidates to spend campaign donations on security guards and equipment, amid a rising toll of national violent threats and deadly attacks against politicians and their families.
The 80-member state Assembly on Thursday gave final approval to a bill that would enable politicians to buy alarm and motion-detection systems and hire guards “provided that the security measures address ongoing dangers or threats that would not otherwise exist were it not for the individual’s status or duties as a candidate or officeholder.”
The bill passed 53-13 with eight abstentions.
Majority Democrats did not speak during the debate. Some Republicans questioned why candidates’ safety should in any way depend on the size of their campaign fund. They recommended that concerned candidates apply for a firearm and protect themselves.
Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia (R., Sussex) said she encountered “some real live wires out there” and has beefed up security in her own home. She has enlisted help from the state police and the attorney general’s office as well. But the bill still gave her pause.
“I don’t believe anyone has ever donated to me … thinking, ‘I hope it keeps her alive,’” Fantasia said.
Typically, candidates cannot not use political donations to cover personal expenses. But since the execution of New Jersey U.S. District Judge Esther Salas’ son in their Middlesex County home in 2020 by a self-described men’s rights lawyer, appointed and elected public officials nationwide have taken steps to protect their privacy.
Those fears only multiplied after President Donald Trump was wounded during a shooting at a Pennsylvania campaign rally in 2024, last year’s arson attack at the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion while Gov. Josh Shapiro slept inside, and the 2025 assassination of Democratic Minnesota State Rep. and former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband.
New Jersey would be the 17th state to allow political contributions to be spent on security, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Rowan University political science professor Ben Dworkin called the need for such a bill “an unfortunate development in the hyper-partisan world we live in.”
“For any number of years, protecting the candidate meant staff walking in a circle around them, creating a bubble, and moving through the crowd,” said Dworkin, the director of the Rowan Institute for Public Policy and Leadership. “It’s sad if we have gotten to the point the majority of the legislature needs professionals.”
It is now up to Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill to decide whether to sign the legislation into law. The 40-member Senate passed the measure in June.
The next major statewide election is next year, when all 120 seats in the legislature are on the ballot.
The protections could extend to candidates’ immediate family members with whom they live. Security personnel could not be relatives, nor could candidates hire security companies owned by family, according to the bill.
Security devices may be sold after the campaign, according to the bill.
The state Election Law Enforcement Commission would implement the measure if Sherrill signs it.
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