PHOENIX — Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake's campaign confirmed an envelope containing "suspicious white powder" was opened at her campaign headquarters in Phoenix Saturday.
The Phoenix Fire Department said they were called to the building near 40th Street and Camelback Road around 2 a.m. Sunday.
Phoenix police said there were suspicious items found inside the mail. They said it is still being determined what those items are.
Authorities said no one was injured. Lake's campaign said the staff member who opened the envelope is under medical supervision. The campaign office remained closed as of Sunday afternoon.
Kari Lake's campaign released the following statement on the incident:
“Yesterday, a member of the Kari Lake staff opened an envelope delivered to our campaign office that contained suspicious white powder. It was one of two envelopes that were confiscated by law enforcement and sent to professionals at Quantico for examination, and we are awaiting details. The staff member is currently under medical supervision. Just two days before Election Day, our campaign headquarters remains shut down. We look forward to law enforcement completing their investigation as quickly as possible. Rest assured, we are taking this security threat incredibly seriously and we are thankful for the Phoenix PD, FBI, first responders, bomb squad, and HazMat crews that responded to this incident. In the meantime, know that our resolve has never been higher and we cannot be intimidated. We continue to push full speed ahead to win this election on Tuesday.“
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs released the following statement:
“The reported incident at Kari Lake’s campaign office is incredibly concerning and I am thankful that she and her staff were not harmed. Political violence, threats, or intimidation have no place in our democracy. I strongly condemn this threatening behavior directed at Lake and her staff.”
Democratic Secretary of State candidate Adrian Fontes released the following statement:
"While we await information from law enforcement regarding the package sent to the Lake campaign office, let me be crystal clear: Whether it's someone watching drop boxes with rifles or someone mailing potentially dangerous material to a campaign office, violence and intimidation can never be tolerated in our political discourse or in our daily lives.
I condemn any acts that would seek to terrorize or harm political figures, their staff, election officials and workers, voters, or any individual. Whether this incident is politically motivated or not, we must be better than this as a society. This is the United States of America, this behavior cannot stand."
