WASHINGTON — Iowa Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks responded to Iowa voters hosting a “people’s town hall” to express frustrations with absent lawmakers. While the congresswoman said she welcomes the freedom of expression, she said she holds town halls and listening posts every year, and this year will not be different.
In Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, which Miller-Meeks represents, Iowa City voters held a protest decrying her absence. Hundreds attended the protest on March 24 in downtown Iowa City.
Dubbed the “Stand Up for Your Constituents” rally, the event was co-hosted by labor unions the American Federation of Government Employees and Iowa City Federation of Labor.
Miller-Meeks said she is glad her constituents felt comfortable expressing their freedom of expression.
“When we’ve heard people say that there are threats to our democracy, and you see people out being able to protest, being able to contest what they think that their government is doing, I think that shows you much more willingness than what I saw under the Biden administration,” Miller-Meeks said in an interview with The Daily Iowan. “I’m glad to see that the democratic process is alive and well.”
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Similar criticisms have popped up from constituents, and dozens of similar events have been held against the state. The pushback follows the National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Richard Hudson encouraging House Republicans to avoid in-person events.
The charge came after a few GOP lawmakers faced heckling during events.
Hudson delivered the message in a closed door meeting at the beginning of last month, according to reporting by Politico.
He later spoke with reporters on the issue, as reported by NBC News, and said “in-person town halls are no longer effective because Democrat activists are threatening democracy by disrupting the actual communication at town halls.”
Democrats immediately criticized the GOP and Hudson’s advice. The Democratic National Committee announced the launch of a series of billboards in Republican-held congressional districts to encourage constituents to hold their own “people’s town hall.”
The Iowa Democratic Party posted a “missing” poster on March 28, asking why Miller-Meeks held no public town halls during the three weeks the U.S. House was on recess and she was back in Iowa.
Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, known for his yearly 99-county tour of the entire state, recently defied the urge from the national GOP leadership to pause in-person town halls. Grassley hosted a town hall on March 21 in Hampton, Iowa.
Miller-Meeks said she will continue to meet with constituents and that she works to be accessible to people throughout the district and when they come to Washington, D.C.
“I’ve got a full schedule all of this week,” Miller-Meeks said. “And then I’ve got a full schedule when I go back into the district, meeting with people, so we’ve never not met with people.”