COLUMBUS – Members of Congress, especially Republicans, are getting an angry homecoming during the congressional recess and some central Ohio lawmakers are opting for private talks rather than the kind of town hall-style gatherings that have gotten boisterous elsewhere.
A spokeswoman for Representative Pat Tiberi (R-Genoa Twp.) says Tiberi (right) will not attend a meeting to discuss healthcare reform and does not have any official town hall gatherings planned.
“We do not have one scheduled at this time, and we haven’t ruled one out,” Olivia Hnat said. “Rep. Tiberi has scheduled back-to-back meetings with constituents to discuss healthcare reform over the past several weeks in his central Ohio office.”
“These are important opportunities for Rep. Tiberi to listen to their concerns, respond to them directly and engage in a constructive conversation,” she said.
A petition started by John Russell, a former Democratic candidate for the Ohio House from Galena, called on Tiberi to attend a town hall meeting Wednesday night at the First Unitarian Universalist Church in Columbus to discuss Republican plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Organizers say the meeting will go ahead, “with or without Tiberi,” as planned.
Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Columbus), who represents the 15th District also had no plans to attend a similar event in Hilliard Wednesday because of the late notice of the meeting and other commitments on his schedule, spokeswoman
Courtney Whetstone said.
Stivers (left) has held three telephone townhalls already this year and has two more “teletowns” scheduled in March, Whetstone said. Anyone who is interested can call Stivers’s Hilliard District Office at 614-771-4968, she said.
“He wants to have a constructive conversation with his constituents, however tonight’s event was organized by a Democrat running for Hilliard City Council and had speakers slated including the former Ohio Democratic Party Chairman,” Whetstone said. “That doesn’t sound like the start of a constructive, non-partisan conversation.”
Democrat Joyce Beatty of Columbus participated in a meeting Tuesday night with Universal Health Care Action Network Ohio and plans a teleconference town hall in March, said spokesman Dominic Manecke.
Rep. David Brat (R-VA) who rode the tea party wave to a historic political upset nearly three years ago, was confronted by protesters upset with the Trump administration as he held a town hall in his district.
Protesters and supporters crowded a restaurant conference room Tuesday in Blackstone where Brat took questions for about hour. Some demonstrated outside the restaurant. Brat, a former economics professor, said he enjoyed the give and take with the feisty crowd.
Brat’s town hall was among several protests lobbed at GOP members of Congress returning home this week on break to their districts around the U.S.
GOP Senators Charles Grassley and Jodi Ernst, both of Iowa, and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, also encountered protesters at meetings this week in their home states.