A suspicious package addressed to Tennessee's State Division of Elections Office never made it to Nashville. Tennessee officials confirmed the package was intercepted in transit before it could reach the office or be opened there, part of a wave of suspicious mailings turning up at election offices around the country just weeks before the midterms.
Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett said the package was addressed to the State Division of Elections Office but never reached its intended destination, according to WKRN News 2. Tennessee Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins said the interception happened before delivery. “We were able to intercept it in transit and so the package was not opened here,” Goins said, per the station's report.
This is not the first time Goins's office has dealt with a scare like this. He said his office was also targeted by suspicious mail in 2024, when he opened a package containing white powder, and that the substance later tested negative for anything hazardous, the station noted.
A Nationwide Pattern of Threatening Mail
The Tennessee incident is one piece of a much larger investigation. The FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service are looking into a series of suspicious mailings sent to election offices and congressional offices across the country, according to CBS News. Some of those letters contained an unknown or powdery white substance, while others, like the one meant for Nashville, were intercepted before they ever reached their destination.
Federal authorities say the mailings have gone to various addresses nationwide, including Secretary of State offices and their related election offices, per NPR's reporting. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service said it managed to stop delivery of at least one of the mailings before it arrived, the outlet reported.
Accounts of just how widespread the mailings are differ depending on the source. The Hill reported suspicious packages or mailings containing white powder in Ohio, Oklahoma and Louisiana on Tuesday and Wednesday, weeks before the midterms. CNN, meanwhile, reported that election offices in at least seven states had received suspicious letters containing a white powdery substance that same week, while CBS News put the figure at eight states. Officials briefed on the investigation told Votebeat that more than 100 letters were sent to people and groups across the country, though the exact number aimed specifically at election officials remains unclear.
Evacuations and Scares in Other States
Some of the mailings prompted immediate action. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said postal investigators blocked delivery of a letter containing a powdery white substance addressed to his office, according to WATE. Oklahoma election board offices were evacuated Tuesday after receiving an envelope containing suspicious white powder, the station's report noted.
In Louisiana, an elections employee opened a package containing white powder, triggering an evacuation of the office; law enforcement later found no evidence of harmful substances, per the same account. Votebeat also reported that law enforcement intercepted similar letters bound for the offices of the Ohio, New Hampshire and Washington secretaries of state, while Pennsylvania officials said the Postal Service blocked delivery of one letter before it reached them.
The Delaware Department of Elections said it received and opened a letter containing a white powdery substance, and that staff followed security protocols for handling suspicious mail, according to the BBC.
Echoes of Past Election-Season Scares
Threatening mail aimed at election workers is not new. In 2024, at least 20 states were targeted with letters containing suspicious powders, according to NBC News. A similar scare unfolded in 2023, when election offices in six states received mailings containing white powder.
For now, the investigation into this latest round of mailings remains active, with federal officials working to determine the scope of the threat and whether the various incidents across Tennessee, Ohio, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Delaware and other states are connected.
