A Republican district attorney in West Texas has opened a criminal investigation into pamphlets mailed to homes across Texas. The pamphlets purport to come from a transgender rights group. District Attorney Sarah Stogner, who covers Loving, Reeves and Ward counties west of Odessa, told The Texas Tribune her office is looking at the mailers as a potential forgery. She said the scope could grow as new information comes in. 1
Forgery is a state jail felony under Texas law. No one has been charged, and the investigation has not named a suspect. Stogner said the origin of the mailers is currently unknown. 1
What the mailers say and who is named
The pamphlets were marketed as a resource guide for LGBTQ+ students from the Texas Transgender Student Union. They were addressed to the "student" of each household. Sections encourage young people to seek help from advocacy groups if their parents do not support their gender identity. 1
Records show a group with that name was formed as a limited liability company in Wyoming in September. The mailer lists a Houston-area post office box as its address. 1
From Channel GOPTalarico: Elon Musk is trying to buy Texas Senate seatJames Talarico · 134 plays · captioned, with the source named
The pamphlets repeatedly mention the Transgender Education Network of Texas, known as TENT. A lawyer for the group said Thursday that the mailers have set off criticism, including threats of violence. TENT says it had nothing to do with them. 1
These messages were deliberately distributed in a manner calculated to cause maximum harm to TENT and to create confusion and strife among the Texas electorate
Mimi Marziani, one of TENT's lawyers, said the pamphlet took on the "look and feel" of TENT's real materials. She said it mixed in information the group does not support, including the legal process for minors to be recognized as an adult. 1
The election timing
The mailers arrived during the first days of early voting for the Nov. 3 election. Democrats have called them a ploy to rally conservative voters, while Republicans have described the content as predatory, the Tribune reported. 2
Stogner, a Republican, said she saw the mailers as an obvious bid to agitate voters. She also said her constituents are angry and worried about children being "exposed" to the material. 1
If this ends up being legal, it is everything that is wrong with our current political climate
Questions still open
State Rep. Jeff Leach, a Plano Republican, wrote two letters about the mailers and related text messages. The first, spurred by the texts, asked the attorney general's office to investigate TENT for "circumventing and violating" state law. 12
His second letter asked the state to find out who sent them. Leach wrote that he had received new information "raising the possibility that the communications and associated toolkit may not originate from the group whose name it was sent under." 1
The Tribune reported that two pamphlets it received carried mailer IDs tied to SnailWorks, a Maryland mail-tracking company. SnailWorks says it does not design, print, send or hold mailing lists, and it would not name its clients. 2
Federal Election Commission filings show the National Republican Congressional Committee paid SnailWorks $57,300 for "list rental" over two years. The committee says it had no involvement with the pamphlet. Nothing in the reporting ties the mailers to the committee. 2
The pattern to watch is who is found to have paid for and sent the mailers. That matters because deceptive mail that borrows a real group's name can confuse voters and expose that group to threats days before an election. Investigators have not said when they expect answers. 12
The Record
- A limited liability company named the Texas Transgender Student Union was formed in Wyoming in early September, records show 12.
- Rep. Jeff Leach sent a second letter saying the mailers may not originate from the group named on them 2.
- District Attorney Sarah Stogner confirmed a criminal forgery investigation into the mailers 1.
Sources
- The 19th / The Texas Tribune, “Texas district attorney opens forgery investigation into disputed transgender mailers” (2026-10-23). 19thnews.org/2026/10/texas-forgery-investigation-transgender
- KSAT / The Texas Tribune, “False pamphlets causing backlash and confusion, Texas transgender rights group says” (2026-10-20). ksat.com/news/texas/2026/10/20/false-pamphlets-causing-backl
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