New Jersey lawmakers have sent Gov. Mikie Sherrill a bill allowing candidates and officeholders to use campaign donations for physical and digital security, while barring purchases of firearms and payments to relatives.
The Assembly approved the measure Thursday by a 53-13 vote, with 14 members abstaining or not voting, according to the New Jersey Monitor. The Senate passed it unanimously in June, leaving the governor to decide whether the proposal becomes law.
The revised bill text would authorize campaign money for security personnel, cybersecurity products and services, and protective equipment such as alarms, lighting, doors, fencing, motion detectors and cameras. Coverage could extend to candidates, officeholders, members of their households and campaign or government staff.
The proposal also draws boundaries around the new spending authority. Campaign funds could not buy guns or ammunition, pay a candidate’s family member or a family-controlled business, or finance home improvements outside the security items expressly permitted by the bill.
The legislation responds to a real security problem. A June Carnegie review found that threats and political violence remain elevated and reported that nearly 90% of state legislators experienced threats or attacks between 2021 and 2024. It specifically identified hard-security funding and protection from doxxing as measures officials may need.
Supporters argue campaign accounts are an available source for those protections without shifting the cost directly to taxpayers. The bill is sponsored by Assemblyman Robert Karabinchak, a Middlesex County Democrat, and Sens. Paul Sarlo, a Bergen County Democrat, and Carmen Amato, an Ocean County Republican.
Opponents focused less on whether threats exist than on who should pay and how broadly the authorization could be interpreted. Seven Assembly Republicans criticized the measure during debate, the Monitor reported. They warned that donors may not expect contributions to finance improvements at a politician’s home or transportation that could be described as security.
The restrictions and campaign-finance reporting system will therefore matter if Sherrill signs the bill. New Jersey candidates already must disclose campaign receipts and expenditures under Election Law Enforcement Commission rules described in the agency’s candidate manual. Those reports would provide the public record needed to evaluate vendors, amounts and whether spending fits the new statutory categories.
The measure does not appropriate state money or create a security entitlement. Candidates with larger balances would have more capacity to use the option, while challengers and minor-party candidates with smaller accounts could remain exposed to the same threats without comparable resources. That imbalance was one of the central objections raised during the Assembly debate.
Sherrill’s decision will set the final policy choice: whether campaign donations are an acceptable funding source for personal and cyber protection, with explicit prohibitions intended to prevent the security exception from becoming a general personal-benefit account.
