Republicans in Congress are refusing to hold town halls in their districts for fear of criticism, and Democrats are now stepping in.
Representative Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin did not attend a town hall meeting in his district of Viroqua on Tuesday, so Democratic Representative Mark Pocan spoke to 300 people in front of an empty chair with Van Orden’s name on it.
“Derrick was a no-show, but more than 300 people from the town of 4500 showed up. Pocan posted on X that there was an empty seat for him. “Of note: Derrick does not respond to constituents & they do not like cuts to Medicaid & other programs.”
Van Orden “is afraid of his constituents, and he could be fired in 2026,” Pocan wrote in a follow-up post. The Republican congressman intends to transition to virtual town halls, labeling protesters at Republican-led town halls as “George Soros-funded agitators” and comparing them to Nazis.
Pocan has mocked Van Orden before, calling him “on vacation” last month after he and other Republicans refused to attend a Wisconsin Farmers Union event where farmers expressed their concerns about Donald Trump’s policies. And it appears that Democrats elsewhere may soon adopt a similar strategy.
The Democratic National Committee announced Wednesday that it will place billboards in Republican districts in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania encouraging residents to contact their representatives and request town hall meetings. The phone numbers of these Republicans will also be displayed on the billboards.
“Republicans are refusing to meet with their constituents after voting to take away health care and make it harder for families to put food on the table,” the DNC’s new chair, Ken Martin, said in a statement. “This is not surprising—over the last few months, one word has come to describe Republicans: cowards.”
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’ running mate in 2024, is also holding events in Republican districts, including a “People v. Musk” rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, in Van Orden’s district on Tuesday.
Walz has previously visited Iowa and Nebraska. Senator Bernie Sanders has held a number of rallies in Republican territory, and he and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez intend to visit Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado later this week.
Will it help, however? Democrats are currently struggling to develop an effective strategy to combat Trump and the GOP’s massive overhaul of the federal government.
Meanwhile, tech oligarch Elon Musk is investing millions of dollars in political campaigns to shore up support for Trump’s agenda. The Democrats must capture the attention of an already dissatisfied electorate and channel its rage against the GOP.
