Candidates on the campaign trail in Texas swiftly condemned the rash of suspicious packages and apparent mail bombs delivered to multiple Democratic politicians and, in one case so far, the media.
Senator Ted Cruz, in the midst of a state-wide bus tour in the final weeks of his re-election bid, stopped at Gilley's in Dallas Wednesday morning along with fellow Texas Senator John Cornyn.
Their speeches to a crowd of supporters did not include mention of the packages discovered in New York and Washington, D.C. But afterward in interviews with WFAA, both expressed their dismay that the package sender, whoever they might be, appears politically motivated.
"These are deeply, deeply troubling occurrences," said Sen. Cruz. "Violence is never OK. On its face, those appear to be terrorist acts. I hope that the terrorist who sent them is caught is caught and prosecuted and put away in jail for a long, long time."
"This is not the way to resolve our differences in America," added Sen. Cornyn. "And I think it's frightening a lot of people and understandably so."
The same questions were following Cruz's opponent Beto O'Rourke at campaign stops in Austin.
"I think the country, in my lifetime, has never been more divided," he told reporters. "[I’m] really concerned for every public servant, regardless of party or position they hold."
Federal and state officials are trying to find a link between, and the source of, the suspicious devices so far targeting liberal billionaire George Soros, the New York home of Bill and Hillary Clinton, the D.C. home of President Barack Obama, and the New York offices of CNN.
The suspicious package at CNN forced a mass evacuation of the Time Warner Center as New York City bomb technicians removed the device.
The packages had dangerous potential, and, today, served as a severe political distraction.
"I don't think anybody is safe, unfortunately," said Sen. Cornyn. "Because once tactics like this are resorted to then I think they have a way of spreading."
"Listen, we're in a divided time, a polarized time, with a lot of anger," added Sen. Cruz. "That's not good for our country. I hope everyone just counts to 10 and calms down a little bit."
A difficult task, with federal agents now searching for a would-be bomber – and their motivation, be it political or otherwise.
Both Sen. Cruz and Rep. O'Rourke are making multiple campaign stops each day throughout the state of Texas from now until election day Nov. 6.