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Writer's pictureCivicPulse Insights Team

Who perpetrates acts of hostility against local and state officials?

Updated: Oct 31

As part of our summer 2024 surveys of local and state officials on experiences of hostility, we asked respondents who had experienced a threat, harassment, malicious impersonation, property destruction, or attack to describe the perpetrator(s) of the most recent episode.  


Our findings combine the data from our survey of local elected officials and school board members with our survey of incumbent state legislators and state legislative candidates, both conducted in partnership with Dr. Nazita Lajevardi, Dr. Sandra Håkansson, Dr. Mark Brandt, and Kelsey Osborne-Garth. 


Disclaimer: respondents could choose from nine pre-selected categories, meaning that responses are based on the perceived best fitting description, rather than verified perpetrator identities. 


Our analysis reveals three key patterns. 


1. The majority of respondents said the most recent incident they experienced was perpetrated by “aggravated citizens” (65%). This perpetrator category represents community residents who are aggrieved but don’t show clear affiliation with an ideological cause.  


2. Perpetrators motivated by partisan ideologies were frequently cited by respondents (53% total). Unlike “aggravated citizens,” perpetrators who were identified by respondents as members or supporters of right-wing (32%) or left-wing (21%) organizations were likely motivated to act based on strongly held ideologies.  


Republican respondents were significantly more likely to report experiencing incidents perpetrated by left-wing organization members or supporters (41%) as compared to the average of all respondents (21%). Likewise, Democratic respondents were significantly more likely to report hostile experience perpetrated by right-wing organization members or supporters (44%), compared to the average for all respondents (32%). Meanwhile, Independent respondents were less likely to experience hostile incidents perpetrated by both right-wing (26%) and left-wing (19%) organization members or supporters compared to the overall average. 


3. Over a quarter (26%) of respondents reported hostile experiences perpetrated by other elected colleagues. We specifically asked respondents to report on incidents perpetrated by fellow elected officials who were more conservative (14%) and more liberal (12%) than they were.  


Survey Background 

The research underlying this brief was built on data from a national random sample of 405 municipal and county elected officials, 198 school board members, 209 incumbent state legislators, and 332 state legislative challengers. Below is the question wording for the survey items used.


Which of the following best describes the perpetrator(s) of the most recent incident against you? Please select all that apply. Response options: Aggravated citizen(s), Elected official(s) that is more conservative than me, Elected official(s) that is more liberal than me, Business owner(s), Member(s) or supporter(s) of a right-wing organization, Member(s) or supporter(s) of a left-wing organization, Member(s) of a criminal network/gang, Don’t know, Other ______  

 

Press Contact    

Victoria Starbuck 

Senior Research and Communications Associate 


Additional Resources

  • For access to the underlying data for this brief, email us at info@civicpulse.org

  • Since August 2022, we have conducted quarterly surveys on threats and harassment of local officials. To view the associated dashboard click here.  

  • Additional CivicPulse research related to our Democracy and Elections Program can be found here

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