Benchmark Report

The results of the first four rounds of the BDI-CivicPulse survey of 1,400 local elected officials offer sobering observations on the rate at which local leaders are experiencing insults, harassment, threats, and physical attacks for the preceding 12 months. This research is produced as part of an ongoing joint project launched by BDI and CivicPulse in August 2022 to conduct quarterly national surveys of local officials on their experiences facing threats and harassment. These quarterly updates allow us to identify spikes or shifts in hostility and monitor important trends in threats and harassment as we enter the 2024 election cycle.

The sixth quarterly survey provides updated findings from the Q4 2023 nationally representative BDI-CivicPulse survey of more than 400 local elected officials on threats and harassment, putting the total number of participants across all six surveys at 2,315. This research is produced as part of an ongoing joint project launched by BDI and CivicPulse in August 2022 to conduct quarterly national surveys of local officials on their experiences facing threats and harassment. These quarterly updates allow us to identify spikes or shifts in hostility and monitor important trends in threats and harassment as we enter the 2024 election cycle. Over the last 16 months, experiences of threats and harassment remained widespread -- more than half of surveyed officials reported being insulted, over a third reported harassment, and nearly one in six reported threats in any given three-month window.

The seventh quarterly survey provides updated findings from the Q1 2024 nationally representative BDI-CivicPulse survey of local elected officials and school board members on their experiences of hostility. This wave surveyed over 400 local elected officials and over 200 school board officials, putting the total number of participants across all seven surveys at more than 2,900. In order to address a persistent research gap, this survey wave has added school board officials to the sampled population for the first time. While other types of local officials (e.g. state legislators, election officials) have been the focus of multiple research efforts, school board officials have remained under-examined. At a time when school board meetings have increasingly become flashpoints for backlash against local government, and as part of our effort to better understand the broader threat and harassment landscape, this expansion of the survey allows us to further investigate how hostility faced by school board officials compares with experiences reported by other local elected officials, such as mayors, council members, and county commissioners, in order to support tailored policy responses. This research is produced as part of an ongoing joint project launched by BDI and CivicPulse in August 2022 to conduct quarterly national surveys of local officials on their experiences facing threats and harassment. These quarterly updates allow us to identify spikes or shifts in hostility and monitor important trends in threats and harassment as we enter the 2024 election cycle.

The eighth quarterly survey provides updated findings from the Q2 2024 nationally representative BDI-CivicPulse survey of local elected officials and school board members on their experiences of hostility. This wave surveyed over 400 local elected officials and 200 school board officials, putting the total number of participants across all eight survey waves at more than 3,500. This round of respondents was the first to be surveyed in the aftermath of the deadly shooting at former President Trump’s campaign rally in July. While levels of hostility faced by local elected officials remained consistently high from Q1 to Q2 ahead of the assassination attempt, there was a statistically significant increase in the proportion of local elected officials that said they were worried about future threats, harassment, and physical attacks following the shooting and moving into the election period. This research is produced as part of an ongoing joint project launched by BDI and CivicPulse in August 2022 to conduct quarterly national surveys of local officials on their experiences facing threats and harassment. These quarterly updates allow us to identify spikes or shifts in hostility and monitor important trends in threats and harassment as we enter the 2024 election cycle.

The ninth quarterly survey provides updated findings from the Q3 2024 nationally representative BDI-CivicPulse survey of local elected officials and school board members on their experiences of hostility. This wave surveyed over 400 local elected officials and 200 school board officials, putting the total number of participants across all nine survey waves at more than 4,100. This round of respondents was surveyed in the run-up to the 2024 election, covering their experiences between July and October. Compared to Q2, significantly more officials reported experiencing insults and harassment in Q3, while reports of threats continued at consistent levels. There was a decrease in respondents who reported worry about hostility following the previous survey round, which was conducted in the immediate aftermath of the shooting at President-elect Trump’s campaign rally, though the findings indicate that levels of concern remained at a high baseline going into the election period. This research is produced as part of an ongoing joint project launched by BDI and CivicPulse in August 2022 to conduct quarterly national surveys of local officials on their experiences facing threats and harassment. These quarterly updates allow us to identify spikes or shifts in hostility and monitor important trends in threats and harassment as we enter the 2024 election cycle.