In the wake of high-profile attacks and security incidents on public servants, Delaware’s house chamber advanced a bill this week, which would allow lawmakers to spend campaign money on security.
Majority leader Kerry Evelyn Harris pointed out that elections at the federal level already allow candidates to use money from their donors for security.
She argued the bill is “not about partisanship” and Delawareans should feel safe to serve in public offices.
Present Delaware campaign rules for local and state elections say candidates and officials running for office can use funds on travel, election fees, staff, and advertising.
The bill's phrasing would add permission to spend on items such as cameras, security staff, fences, and electric electronic security.
First State legislator political committees collectively received more than $800 thousand dollars last year, so the bill’s progress holds potentially heavy consequences for how candidates are allowed to spend money donated to their campaigns– and for their donors.
Despite Harris’s bid that the bill is a safety measure and not partisan, it was met with criticism from Republican House members.
Rep. Jeff Spiegelman said firearms could help lawmakers’ personal and professional safety.
“We're allowing other hard assets,” he said. “... I would just point out that it's kind of ironic that you can use your campaign funds to hire somebody with a gun, but not buy a gun.”
Harris said she didn’t see need for extensive debate on including firearms, asking: “You want to purchase firearms to defend yourself against the public?”
The bill tasks the state election commissioner with implementing oversight rules, so that the security expenses are sufficiently reported and prove authorized spending.
House Minority Leader Tim Dukes said he’s not opposed to using funds in the way HB 448 suggests. But he wanted clarity added to address his concerns of, “ambiguity and hiring somebody for security, with no guidelines, no guard rails on that.”
House Speaker Melissa Minor-Brown is HB 448’s sponsor. She said security spending would be regulated under existing finance reporting structure, which generally asks candidate committees to share who on their campaign was paid, and how much. It also asks for the date of payments and description of its purpose.
The National Conference of State Legislatures said other states, like California, Louisiana, and Minnesota allow election officials to spend campaign dollars on security.
Minor-Brown said she and her family have experienced multiple instances of stalking, threats, and harassment during her time in office, and she wants to see Delaware take preventative steps.
“We saw the death of Charlie Kirk, we saw the death of Melissa Hortman and her husband,” Minor-Brown said.“We saw what happened to Nancy Pelosi's husband. We saw our president get shot at multiple times. It's not like it's not really happening.”
The Brennan Center for Justice said more than 40 percent of state legislators surveyed after Jan. 6 said they’d experienced threats.
