By Tim Reid
PHOENIX (Reuters) – The campaign headquarters of Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for Arizona governor, reopened on Monday, a day after authorities began investigating a suspicious white powder that was delivered by mail to the Phoenix office over the weekend.
The office shut down on Sunday after a staff member reported discovering the powder in an envelope at a time when security agencies are warning of a heightened risk of threats and violence ahead of Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections.
The campaign said in a statement on Sunday that two envelopes were taken for analysis in Quantico, Virginia, home of the FBI’s forensics laboratory.
Lake, a former television news anchor, is in a tight race for governor with Democratic nominee Katie Hobbs, Arizona’s secretary of state.
Hobbs condemned the suspicious mail that was sent to her opponent’s campaign, calling it “incredibly concerning.” Hobbs’ campaign headquarters was burglarized in late October. Phoenix police arrested a suspect days later.
Lake told reporters on Sunday that “a couple” of staff members were exposed and that the mail in question was taken for examination at “a closer lab.”
The Lake campaign and Phoenix police did not immediately respond to a request for more details. Lake was not at the Phoenix office when the mail was received, she said.
The Phoenix police and fire departments said on Sunday in separate statements that no one was reported injured. Neither the FBI statement, nor those from the Phoenix police of fire departments, referred to Lake or her campaign by name.
(Reporting by Tim Reid in Phoenix; Writing by Tyler Clifford in New York; Editing by Howard Goller)
