Letters sent to Jimmy Panetta aim to disrupt American elections

By Daniel Okafor · Reporting from New York ·

Suspicious letters sent to congressional and election offices before the November 3 midterm elections show how perpetrators use fear to harass public servants and rattle democracy.

A staffer in Rep. Jimmy Panetta's Santa Cruz office opened an envelope on Friday. It contained a white powder. She put the envelope in the garbage, cleared the office, and called 911. The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office evacuated the Santa Cruz County Government Building at 701 Ocean Street. No one was injured. This was not an isolated prank. It is a coordinated campaign to rattle the people who run American elections. The perpetrators are using the fear of biological threats to harass public servants before the November 3 midterm elections.

A staffer opens the envelope

The attack in California is part of a wider wave. According to the New York Post, the FBI, US Postal Inspection Service, and US Capitol Police are investigating letters sent to congressional and election offices nationwide. The targets span the political spectrum. Rep. Zoe Lofgren and Rep. Kevin Kiley reported suspicious mail. Sens. Mike Rounds, Chris Murphy, and Amy Klobuchar are among the senators who received them.

The reach extends to state election boards. The Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office received an envelope on Thursday. Secretary Evnen said this is the second such instance during her tenure. A suspicious substance also appeared at the office of Sen. Ricketts in Omaha. In Wisconsin, the Elections Commission received a powdery substance that officials deemed not hazardous.

The disruption hit Chicago on October 15, 2026. ABC7 Chicago reported that two letters prompted hazmat responses. One went to Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas. Pappas said a staff member put the letter in a plastic bag. Within 45 minutes, officials found the powder was baking powder. A second letter went to the Illinois State Board of Elections in the Cook County Administrative Building.

More than 100 letters

The scale of the operation suggests a single source. Law enforcement sources told ABC7 Chicago that more than 100 letters containing white powder are circulating. This volume moves the story from a series of nuisances to a strategic operation.

Spencer Block of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said these packages are not necessarily uncommon during elections season. He said they appear regardless of party. This view fails to account for the coordination. A few random letters are common. A hundred letters targeting both legislators and election boards is a campaign.

The perpetrators used a deceptive return address. A notice to Senate offices included a photo of an envelope postmarked "DSA." The address was one formerly used by the Democratic Socialists of America. The Democratic Socialists of America said it stopped using that address in 2013. The FBI noted that postmarks may not match return addresses. This is a psychological operation.

The mechanism of the mail

This campaign shares the same mechanism as the 2001 anthrax attacks. Both used the postal system to deliver unknown powders to government officials to create panic and intimidation. In 2001, letters killed five people and infected seventeen others.

The goal today is not necessarily lethality, but friction. The US Postal Service intercepted letters bound for the offices of Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Alex Padilla. Padilla said the incident was a stark reminder of the dangers facing those who administer elections. Other letters bound for election offices in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Idaho were intercepted before delivery.

Brendan Donahue, a deputy chief inspector with the US Postal Inspection Service, said any attack on an election official is unacceptable. The letters force evacuations and trigger hazmat responses. They pull security resources away from polling sites and into government hallways. The powder is often harmless, but the response is always expensive and disruptive.

The FBI will likely trace these envelopes to a domestic network. They will use postal sorting data and handwriting analysis. This is the only way to stop the flow. The current system of letting staffers open mail in district offices is a vulnerability. Local election boards lack the security infrastructure of Capitol Hill. They rely on ad-hoc responses from local police and fire departments.

The government must move mail intake for election and congressional offices to centralized screening facilities. The 2001 anthrax attacks proved that direct delivery to legislative offices is too risky. Until the US government implements off-site screening and irradiation for all election-related mail, the postal system will remain a weapon for those who wish to intimidate the servants of the state.

Sources

  1. New York Post: California congressman mailed envelope with ‘suspicious powder’ as FBI probes letters with DSA-linked address
  2. KOLN | Nebraska Local News, Weather, Sports | Lincoln, NE: Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office reports receiving suspicious envelope
  3. ABC7 Chicago: Suspicious letters prompt hazmat responses at 2 Cook County government buildings downtown Chicago, officials say
  4. Daily Maverick: FBI, US Postal Service investigate suspicious mailings to election officials, legislators