Legislators, or their likeness, get a grilling
Spirited crowds fill town halls — even if members of Congress aren’t actually there.
WASHINGTON — Many congressional representatives used their August recess to hold town halls, events that have frequently become passionate, even boisterous, political gatherings since President Trump took office. Some representatives who have declined to attend events hosted by activists have seen “empty chair” town halls being held in their name anyway. Here are some highlights from a few of last week’s town halls.
In a remote town, Trump is never far
Republican Rep. Tom McClintock of Elk Grove, who has faced rowdy protesters and pointed barbs at town halls this year, received a kinder if not exactly warm response in a remote Sierra foothills town Thursday.
Most of the hostility from those at the Foresthill High gym focused on McClintock’s support for Trump.
The congressman faced multiple questions on Trump’s controversial comments about the recent deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., prompting McClintock to disavow the hate groups and defend the president.
“There’s no such thing as a fine person who marches with the Ku Klux Klan or the Nazis,” McClintock said, a clear repudiation of Trump’s recent assertion that there were “very fine people on both sides.”
McClintock received a round of applause, but that quickly turned to boos when he added: “And the president made that pretty clear.”
Unlike many Republican House members from California, the five-term McClintock hasn’t shied away from holding town halls. At a February town hall, police escorted him out of a packed theater as participants grew testy amid a debate about the future of the Affordable Care Act, with hundreds of protesters chanting, “Vote him out.”
The hundreds sitting in the gym bleachers on Thursday included members of the liberal activist group Indivisible of Auburn, as well as conservative tea party activists and advocates for cleaving California’s northern section into a new state.
“I’ve always been a big supporter of Tom,” said Leah Cavanaugh, 75, a retired schoolteacher and tea party member from Foresthill. “People have been so rude to him at his other town halls. That’s not right.”
McClintock’s district is considered to be a safe Republican seat, but he’s being challenged in 2018 by a handful of Democrats.
A one-stop shop in Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara voters on Saturday got a one-stopshop town hall with a wellstocked Democratic lineup: State Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra was joined by freshman U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson and Assemblywoman Monique Limón.
The forum at Santa Barbara City College was free of the protesters and drama that have marked many town halls this year.
One attendee asked the panelists where they stood on universal healthcare legislation — a question pointedly aimed at Limón. The first-term legislator took some heat this summer for supporting Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon’s move to shelve a bill that would have established a single-payer system.
“We understand — I understand — this is a pressing issue. This matters. It is important,” she said. “We are committed to move forward as a state to identify what our pathway is.”
Carbajal, too, moved delicately around the question of expanding access to healthcare, a topic of rancor among some Democrats that has already become a sensitive issue as the 2018 midterm elections near.
Carbajal said that it was worth working to achieve “healthcare for all someday” but the priority for the Democratic minority in Congress is to prevent the repeal of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
“I am committed to, from an aspirational stand point, someday getting there but I think we first and foremost need to fight for the gains that we made for the Affordable Care Act,” he said.
Nationally, Republicans have said unseating Carbajal is among their goals for the 2018 midterms. Republican Justin Fareed, who lost to Carbajal by 6 percentage points last year, recently filed papers to run in 2018.
Duncan Hunter’s ‘trial’ in absentia
Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter of Alpine wasn’t there, but a picture of his face pasted on a cardboard cutout of Trump’s body was.
More than 150 people gathered at Cuyamaca College in El Cajon on Saturday for an event billed by liberal groups as an “empty chair” town hall when Hunter didn’t reply to their invite.
It featured a mock trial of Hunter stemming from allegations he misused campaign funds, as well as speeches on healthcare, climate and immigration.
Nancy Roy, 66, of Ramona said she wasn’t really expecting Hunter to be there, but she was hopeful.
“It’s very disappointing that someone who is supposed to represent our community never shows up, is not accessible, doesn’t answer phone calls or emails,” she said.
“Empty chair” town halls have become a frequent tactic of groups looking to unseat congressional Republicans. Hunter had several public appearances during the August recess, but not a town hall. His last one was in March. Hunter didn’t respond to a request for comment on Saturday’s event.
The FBI investigation into Hunter’s campaign spending came up repeatedly, including the now-infamous expenditure to fly the Hunter family rabbit on a plane. (Before the event began, a man in a rabbit costume collected donations to help pay for the space.) Hunter has repaid tens of thousands to his campaign and his attorney has said the congressman is cooperating with the investigation.
Despite winning his suburban San Diego seat by nearly 27 percentage points in November, Hunter is one the California Republicans that Democrats are hoping to topple in 2018. He’s drawn more than half a dozen opponents so far, including two Republicans.
Though the event was pitched as a town hall, those who attended didn’t get to ask the speakers questions.
La Mesa resident Jennifer Bergovoy, 61, said she wasn’t very politically engaged before the 2016 election and was hoping to hear more about Democrats’ plans for Hunter’s 50th District.
“I wanted to hear what the Democrats had to say, what their position is on issues. We all know why we are against Hunter so I really wasn’t here to hear more about that, but I did get an earful of that,” she said.