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Powder-filled letters hit election offices in 15 states and Senate offices before the vote

Powder-Filled Letters Hit Election Offices in at Least 15 States and Senate Offices Weeks Before the Midterms

by
M.A. Rothman

By M.A. RothmanOctober 16, 2026 · 4 min read
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Federal investigators are tracking a wave of letters containing white powder that were mailed to election offices in at least 15 states and to the offices of several U.S. senators, less than three weeks before the midterm elections. The FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Capitol Police are all involved, and three election officials briefed on the investigation told Votebeat they were told more than 100 letters were sent to people and groups across the country, though it is not known how many went to election officials.

No injuries have been reported. Preliminary testing found the contents were not hazardous, three sources told NBC News, though additional lab testing was continuing.

Where the letters went

NBC News reported that election offices in Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Washington and Wisconsin said they had been mailed suspicious packages.

Some arrived. Election offices in Louisiana and Oklahoma were evacuated after letters with powder came in on Tuesday, CNN reported. On Thursday, offices at the Arizona State Capitol complex were evacuated after staff opened an envelope filled with white powder, according to Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, prompting a hazmat response. Wisconsin’s Elections Commission said a mail piece with an unidentified powdery substance was examined and deemed not dangerous. Nebraska’s secretary of state said staff did not open their envelope and turned it over to the FBI.

Others were stopped in transit. Officials in Georgia, Maryland and Ohio said envelopes bound for their offices were intercepted before delivery, CNN reported, and the Postal Service blocked a suspicious letter headed to Pennsylvania on Wednesday, according to Votebeat.

The FBI confirmed the investigation in a statement Wednesday night, saying “a series of suspicious mailings” had been sent to “various addresses nationwide, including Secretary of State offices and their related election offices.” “Some of the letters contained an unknown substance and we are working closely with our law enforcement partners to respond to each incident,” the bureau said. “We are also working with our partners to identify the individual or individuals responsible for the letters.”

The Senate, too

On Thursday, the Senate Sergeant at Arms told Capitol Hill staff that letters containing “suspicious substances” had been sent to multiple congressional offices around the country. “Law enforcement officials are working to intercept any additional letters before they are delivered,” the email said, but “it is possible that some letters may reach their destinations.”

Every senator publicly identified as a target so far is a Democrat. A spokesperson for California Sen. Alex Padilla said the FBI had notified his office that one of its offices was mailed a letter with a suspicious substance that was intercepted by the Postal Service. Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy’s Hartford office was also targeted, though that letter was intercepted by law enforcement; his spokesperson said “Sen. Murphy’s office was sent a letter with a suspicious substance,” and that he and his staff “were not in immediate danger,” the Connecticut Mirror reported. Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s Hartford office received a similar letter, which a staffer spotted while screening mail. NBC News reported a letter addressed to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer was intercepted, and CNN reported suspicious mail sent to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s New York City office and to Sen. Raphael Warnock was intercepted as well.

A House notice said no House members had been identified as intended recipients. It told district offices to follow safe-handling practices, including using “mail hoods” provided by the House Sergeant at Arms, according to NBC News. CNN noted it is unclear whether the letters to election offices and those to congressional offices are linked.

Not the first time

Election officials have been here before. In 2023, election offices in six states received white-powder mailings, and some of those letters contained threats and traces of fentanyl, leading some offices to stock up on the overdose-reversal drug naloxone, PBS NewsHour reported. In the weeks before the 2024 presidential election, powder-filled packages were sent to election officials in at least six states, according to CNN. Nebraska said this week’s envelope was the second it has received; the first came in 2024.

Election officials responded with defiance. “Let this be very clear: this incident will not shake us,” said Meagan Wolfe, administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, said “these kinds of cowardly threats will not deter us from that mission.”

A crime either way

Early tests suggest the powder may be harmless. That does not make this a prank. Former FBI agent Jason Pack told NBC News that even a hoax can be a crime, pointing to federal laws against mailing a threat or mailing something believed to be a hazardous substance. “The timing is somewhat suspicious with the election ahead of us,” he said.

That is the point. The people who run elections in this country now have to treat their own mail as a potential weapon in the final weeks before the vote. Every evacuation and every hazmat call pulls them away from the job of getting ballots counted accurately and on time.

Whoever sent these letters wanted fear, not powder, to do the work. The FBI says it is working to find out who that is, and it should be a top priority for every agency involved. Americans of every party have a stake in the answer.

Whether the powder turns out to be poison or flour, mailing it to the people who count America’s votes is an attack on the election itself, and whoever did it belongs in prison.

Sources

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