Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Robert Garcia are the latest Democrats to report suspicious letters as over 100 powder mailings circulate ahead of the midterms.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said a suspicious letter arrived at her district office in Hunts Point, N.Y., and that New York City police and federal authorities are investigating. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) said his office got what looked like a similar letter the same day.
The Hill reported the two lawmakers are among a string of officials across the country who have flagged suspicious packages and letters in the run-up to the midterm elections. The FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service are working the cases nationwide.
No one was reported hurt in the Ocasio-Cortez or Garcia incidents. Investigators have not announced arrests or named a suspect.
Ocasio-Cortez released a statement Tuesday evening after the letter reached her Bronx-area office. She framed the timing as deliberate and the aim as pressure on people in public office.
Ocasio-Cortez said:
"This string of suspicious mailings started two weeks before a consequential midterm election and is seemingly intended to intimidate public servants and sow further division,"
She added a second line that left little room for spin.
"Political violence has no place in our country,"
The New York City Police Department is on the local case. U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI are also involved, according to her account of the response.
Garcia said his office received the mailing Tuesday and that staff and responders moved fast. He stressed that the letter never put anyone in his shop in danger.
Garcia stated:
"The letter was intercepted, necessary safety precautions were taken, and no one in our office was harmed,"
He thanked the Long Beach Police and Fire Departments and the Sheriff’s Department for the quick response and for keeping the community covered while the probe continues.
The problem is not limited to two House Democrats. Last week, multiple election officials reported similar packages. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said U.S. Postal Service investigators blocked a letter headed for his office that held a “powdery white substance.”
Broader figures cited in the same reporting put the scale much higher. More than three dozen members of Congress had suspicious letters or mail sent to their offices. Law enforcement sources put the number of letters moving through the U.S. mail system that appear to contain white powder at over 100.
An FBI spokesperson described the federal posture in plain terms. The bureau is treating the mailings as a live, multi-jurisdiction problem.
The FBI spokesperson said:
"Some of the letters contained an unknown substance, and we are working closely with our law enforcement partners to respond to each incident,"
The same spokesperson said agents are working with partners “to identify the individual or individuals responsible for the letters.” The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is part of that effort.
Public details still stop short of hard answers. Reporting has not confirmed lab results for every letter, including the ones tied to Ocasio-Cortez and Garcia. It is not clear from official statements whether those two pieces held the same powder described in the wider wave.
No charging documents, named suspects, or injury toll beyond Garcia’s all-clear have been laid out in the available accounts. The calendar markers in the statements, “Tuesday,” “last week,” “two weeks before” the midterms, sit against a publication stamp of Oct. 20, 2026, without a full day-by-day map of every delivery.
What is clear is the pattern: congressional offices, an election official’s office, intercepts by postal investigators, and a federal promise to chase the senders. Powder in the mail is not protest. It is a threat delivery system aimed at people who count votes and create laws.
Find the senders, charge them, and keep the ballots and the offices free of this garbage, midterms or not.
