Republican Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake's campaign office in east Phoenix was placed in lockdown and then evacuated Tuesday after a staffer opened a letter containing a suspicious substance.
The letter reportedly contained a note that read, "caution anthrax." Lake was not at the office when the letter was opened.
The Phoenix bomb squad was dispatched to the office located near 40th Street and Camelback Road to test the substance, which was not deemed to be hazardous, KPNX-TV reported.
"There was no immediate threat to the community and the occupants of the building will be allowed access shortly," Phoenix police wrote in a statement.
Lake, who lost a bid to become Arizona's governor in 2022 by 17,117 votes, is in a dogfight with Democrat Rep. Ruben Gallego for an open Senate seat after independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema decided not to run for reelection. In the latest InsiderAdvantage poll of 800 likely Arizona voters released Tuesday, Gallego leads Lake 50%-45.8%, with a 3% margin of error.
"The radical left, with help from the mainstream media, has escalated its attacks against me from baseless smears and legal harassment to physical threats," Lake, a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump, wrote Tuesday in a post on her X account. "Today, my office received a suspicious envelope, potentially containing anthrax — an attempt to intimidate and silence me.
"This isn't just about me; it's an attack on our movement. I won't be intimidated, and those responsible must be brought to justice. I want to thank all the first responders and the hazmat team for their swift and professional response. The time to unite against these dangerous, un-American tactics is now."
A similar incident occurred in 2022 during Lake's gubernatorial run when her campaign office reported receiving two suspicious letters that were turned over to Phoenix police, KPNX reported. An analysis done by police determined "there was no powder present and no harmful substance" in the letters, police said in 2022. Lake's security team said the office also received a third letter containing a white powder that was thrown away by a campaign volunteer.