Almost 50% of ex-politicians say their families got threats during their time in office: poll

A record number of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are opting not to run for reelection going into 2024, and former members of Congress can clearly see why. 

According to a recent poll conducted by Former Members of Congress (FMC) and the University of Massachusetts, 47% of former lawmakers say that their families and staff received death threats during their time in office, with 69% of them being women or people of color.

The poll also showed that roughly 84% of ex-lawmakers say they are concerned about political violence going into 2024. 94% of former Democrat lawmakers expressed that concern and 74% of Republicans also did. 

The survey polled 300 lawmakers, with close to a half split of Democrats and Republicans, and with service years spanning from 1962 to 2022.

The U.S. seems to be becoming more and more divided politically, especially in recent years. A survey conducted by YouGov earlier this year showed that 65% of Americans have seen an increase in political division. 

"I'd say the greatest problem facing this nation is our division, and I'm trying to point out to audiences: we're not a naturally divided nation," Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said on the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show.

"America is a great country, because Americans are good people," he added. "We're concerned about each other. That's crossed political spectrums. There are far more things that unify us than divide us. But there are elements such as politicians, political groups, identity politics and critical race theory that are purposefully dividing us in and pushing hate. So I'm asking people to understand what's happening."   

Former lawmakers that were interviewed in the poll conducted by FMC and the University of Massachusetts used words such as "dysfunctional," "polarized," and "divided" to describe the government. 

The word "mess" was the fifth most common used to describe the current state of Congress. 

Despite all that, 74% of the former lawmakers said that they would still run for office and do it all over again.

"We want a safe, prosperous, secure country," Johnson said. "We want to raise our children so they can have some opportunity in the future. Let's concentrate on those shared goals, and then figure out how we can accomplish those things together. And let's not let these people divide us."