HOSTILITY: Threats & Harrassment

This analysis looks at over 4,000 survey responses from the last two years to explore both the contributors to, and effects of, worries about hostility. It additionally investigates whether, and to what degree, demographic factors and personal experiences with hostility are connected to the severity of worries about hostility, as well as their links to willingness to engage in political behaviors such as running for re-election or working on controversial topics.

Following an increase in hostile incidents leading up to the 2024 election, the latest results from the BDI-CivicPulse survey of local elected officials indicate that both hostile experiences and worry about future hostility remained at elevated levels through the final quarter of the year. Threats and harassment continued to have a chilling effect on the functions of local government, with officials reporting particularly high rates of decreased willingness to engage in activities like posting on social media and working on controversial topics.

BDI’s Threats and Harassment Dataset (THD) captured 30 threat and harassment incidents targeting local officials in January 2025. The data shows an uptick in hostile incidents carried out by officials against other officials over local community-specific issues during the month, and hostility between colleagues during government meetings also contributed to a rise in in-person threat and harassment events. Overall, hostile activity continued at similar levels in January compared to December, which saw a decline from the surge in threats and harassment around the election in November and a return to baseline trends recorded in previous years.

Threats and harassment against local officials rose in February following two months of lower activity in the aftermath of the election. BDI’s Threats and Harassment Dataset (THD) captured more than 50 events for the month, marking an increase of nearly 40% from January. The rise in hostility was fueled in part by the knock-on effects of national political dynamics playing out at the local level, including an uptick in threats and harassment targeting school officials related to debates over education policy and DEI initiatives.

Reported incidents of threats and harassment against local officials returned to a high baseline level in March, following a spike in February driven largely by national political dynamics related to education policy. BDI’s Threats and Harassment Dataset (THD) captured more than 40 events for the month, marking a decrease of nearly 35% from February. Nevertheless, hostility continued at similar levels compared to January 2025 and much of 2024 overall. Most incidents in March were motivated by community-specific issues or personal legal disputes, marking a shift back to local dynamics as the leading driver of threats and harassment.

This brief outlines the latest research on hostility toward local officials and presents two critical recommendations that can advance efforts to mitigate risk: (1) investing in independent, sustained threat monitoring systems to inform holistic policy solutions over the long term; and (2) expanding access to funds for personal security for local officials in the short term. These measures will help ensure that officials — regardless of their independent financial resources — can continue to safely and effectively serve their communities.

Threat and harassment incidents against local officials continued at a lower rate in April, following a spike at the start of the year driven by national political dynamics. BDI’s Threats and Harassment Dataset (THD) captured more than 20 events for the month, marking a decrease of over 50% from March and a return to levels recorded during much of 2022. At the same time, multiple high-profile cases of threats and harassment against state and federal officials were reported in April. While these incidents are not captured in the THD, which is focused on local officials, they underscore that public officials at all levels continue to face heightened risk.

The latest BDI-CivicPulse survey of 400 local elected officials and 200 school board officials continue to show a high baseline of both hostile experiences and worry about future hostility through the first quarter of 2025, negatively affecting their willingness to take part in key activities like participating in public events. New survey questions also reveal that local officials are seeking expanded resources to mitigate these risks and their impacts.

The number of reported threat and harassment incidents against local officials held steady from April to May, following a spike at the start of the year. BDI’s Threats and Harassment Dataset (THD) captured nearly 30 events for the month, bringing the total number of incidents recorded so far in 2025 to more than 200. In addition to community-specific disputes, national issues like immigration policy and LGBTQ+ rights were key drivers of threats and harassment in May.

Threats and harassment against local officials rose in June. BDI’s Threats and Harassment Dataset (THD) recorded 40 incidents for the month, marking an increase of nearly 40% from the past two months. In total, more than 250 incidents have been reported in the first half of 2025, up 9% from the same period in 2024. This upward trend comes as new survey findings show that local officials are seeking additional safety support like enhanced privacy protections and personal security to mitigate the elevated risk of hostility.