The Republican town hall is disappearing.
Once a mainstay of life as a lawmaker, in-person town halls have become increasingly rare for House Republicans, who are opting instead for virtual events and more private meetings with constituents.
As of June 29, Republican members of Congress had held just 39 in-person town halls this year, according to LegiStorm, marking the lowest first-half-of-the-year number since the Capitol Hill-focused platform began tracking that data. Democratic lawmakers, in contrast, had hosted 451 town halls during the same period.
Republicans say they have their reasons. Democrats see an opening.
Several GOP lawmakers told MS NOW they are opting for tele-town halls over in-person meetings so they can avoid the protesters and heckling that often makes for viral moments. Others said virtual events let them reach more constituents at once. And others still cited safety concerns, pointing to assassination attempts against President Donald Trump and other attacks on elected officials.
All in all, Republicans acknowledged a broad rejection of the traditional town hall.
“They’re a setup,” one House Republican told MS NOW, requesting anonymity to discuss the sensitive topic. “It’s just a setup to get us — get you off something off guard. And for me, personally, it’s a good way to get shot. There’s a lot of crazies out there right now.”
“I just don’t feel like there is any gain to be had,” this GOP lawmaker added.
Another House Republican told MS NOW their preference for virtual discussions is driven by political, logistical and security factors.
“It’s the disruptive factor. It’s the screaming factor. But it’s also, truthfully, a security factor,” this lawmaker said. “The Republicans have been the ones shot at. Republicans have been the ones attacked.”
And a third House Republican echoed that sentiment: “If you actually want to have a conversation, hear questions and give answers, it makes no sense to not do a tele-town hall.”
“It’s the best way to do it,” this Republican said.
While Republicans defended the decision to move away from in-person events, the shift risks breaking the congressional feedback loop between lawmakers and the voters they represent. In-person events are not just opportunities for members to explain their votes; they are a rare opportunity for lawmakers to hear how constituents are experiencing their policies.
The backlash at these events can be a reality check for members, and sometimes motivate them to regulate and reassess their positions.
Virtual events may theoretically be able to reach more people — there is of course no reason why an in-person town hall could not be broadcast virtually — but the online events give members more control over who gets called on, how questions are asked and how confrontational the exchange becomes.
The result is a form of constituent engagement that may be more efficient, but is also less revealing.
Still, the Republicans MS NOW talked to were emphatic that tele-town halls were a better forum.
Rep. Jeff Van Drew, the Democrat turned Republican from New Jersey, wholeheartedly endorsed the virtual events — and he blamed Democrats for driving voters away from the traditional format.
“The Democrats have bastardized this and ruined town halls,” Van Drew said, calling the traditional format “completely nonfunctional and noninformational.”
“To have town halls that are completely weaponized and abusive and demeaning and crude and rude doesn’t function well for anybody,” he said.
The frequency of in-person town halls for Republicans changed dramatically in spring 2025, when House GOP leadership — led by Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee — encouraged lawmakers to avoid in-person town halls and opt for virtual gatherings.
That guidance came after several GOP town halls went viral as constituents and activists protested policies of the Trump administration, putting lawmakers on defense in front of cameras. Voter criticism spanned several topics, from rising costs to Medicaid cuts in the GOP’s reconciliation bill. Even the Jeffrey Epstein files were a major flashpoint.
At the time, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters that tele-town halls were “more productive than if you just go to an open forum right now.” The numbers suggest Republicans followed the advice.
In the first half of 2025, Republicans held 122 in-person town halls, which was down from 229 in 2024, according to LegiStorm. The town halls on the GOP side have since nosedived this year, falling to that 39 number.
Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, lawmakers have been going in the opposite direction. In the first half of 2025, Democrats held 924 town halls, which was a massive increase from the 214 in the same time the year prior.
With the midterms approaching, Democrats are trying to turn the town hall gap into a political weapon.
Last week, Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Ill., wrote on Facebook that she had conducted upward of 85 town halls since arriving in the House in 2019, comparing her numbers to the GOP.
“While Republicans run away from the people they pretend to serve, I have always made myself available to answer all your questions — even the hard ones,” Underwood wrote. “I’m your voice in Washington, and that begins with showing up.”
Some Democrats have even taken to GOP districts to fill the void. In December, Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., traveled to Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District — represented by GOP Rep. Rob Bresnahan — to speak with voters. In a statement to MS NOW this week, Boyle said he may do it again soon.
“Republicans know their agenda is deeply unpopular, so they’re hiding from their constituents,” Boyle said. “After voting to gut healthcare, raise costs and shower billionaires with tax breaks, they won’t even defend their record back home. I’ve held town halls in Republican districts, and I’ll keep showing up where my Republican colleagues won’t.”
Democratic organizations and operatives are hoping the efforts — and town hall disparity — will translate to votes in the midterms.
“If you no longer believe it’s worth your time to listen to the people who elected you, then you no longer deserve the job,” Viet Shelton, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told MS NOW in a statement.
A spokesperson for the NRCC, Mike Marinella, told MS NOW that, “House Republicans are meeting voters where they are, delivering results that matter to working families: lower taxes, a secure border, more money in people’s pockets.”
“Democrats have been overrun by far left socialists, and voters are going to reject their insane agenda in November,” Marinella said.
But Democrats see it very differently.
When asked about the disappearing in-person GOP town halls, a Democratic strategist working on House races told MS NOW that Republicans “are going to pay a price” for their absence.
“It’s an opportunity to draw that contrast in a bunch of different platforms, whether it’s digital or paid or organic or media,” this strategist said. “And then two, it’s the actual contact with voters and people that makes a difference and helps build those connections and helps keep candidates grounded.”
Of course, not every Republican is opting out of town halls. Rep. Mike Flood, who represents a reliably red district in Nebraska, has held a steady clip of in-person gatherings since he was lambasted at a forum in May 2025.
This week, Flood told MS NOW he vowed in 2022 to hold three town halls a year — and he intends to keep that promise.
“Things only get better when you go to the town square and you have an exchange of ideas,” Flood said. “For me, it works.”
He also pushed back on the narrative that GOP town halls have been entirely rowdy, arguing that the viral moments usually come from just a tiny portion of the full forum.
“The reality is, a lot of the times, the same people that might be animated against me, they’re clapping with me when I’m talking about supporting Ukraine or where I’m at on certain issues,” Flood said.
But for the Republicans who have given up on the in-person events, going virtual just makes more sense. They argued that format helps them reach more people.
“There’s a million different ways to reach — and more productive ways, frankly — to reach your constituents in 2026 than go stand up in front of a crowd,” a Republican operative working on House races told MS NOW.
“We saw what happened with Covid, where Zoom and Skype and you know Facebook Lives and Instagram Lives — I mean, [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] does Instagram Live town halls all the time, and look how many people those reach,” the operative said. “We’re changing with the times. We’re adapting here.”
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