It’s Been 110 Days Since Mariannette Miller-Meeks Promised To Hold a Town Hall

Back in April, Miller-Meeks said “we’ll do in-person town halls.” Then, “she reiterated that commitment a week later.”

Now? Miller-Meeks is still refusing to face her constituents even while Congress is out of session or answer questions about her promise to hold town halls.

DCCC Spokesperson Katie Smith:
“Mariannette Miller-Meeks is too much of a coward to face her constituents because she knows she can’t defend her vote to rip away their health care and raise their costs to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. The only thing Iowans can depend on Miller-Meeks for is broken promises.” 

In case you missed it:

The Gazette: Congress is off for August. Will Iowa Rep. Miller-Meeks host an in-person town hall as pledged?

• Absent from the list [of Miller-Meeks plans] is a public town hall.
• In April, during a private event in Bettendorf, the Congresswoman said: “Just like I’ve done every single year, we’ll do in-person town halls.” She reiterated that commitment a week later.
• “In the future, we’ll have more telephone town halls, but also be doing town halls within the district,” Miller-Meeks said during an April 29 tele-town hall that her office said drew more than 6,300 callers. “I look forward to seeing you in the district.”
• With lawmakers back in their district for their monthlong August recess, the question remains when, and if, the former ophthalmologist and 24-year Army veteran will use that time to honor her pledge to hold a public in-person town hall.
• Protests across Iowa’s 1st Congressional District have called on her to do so, with Democrat-aligned groups claiming she’s not accessible and responsive to constituents’ concerns.
• Miller-Meeks’ office did not respond to emailed questions and messages sent this week by The Gazette seeking comment on a public town hall.
• Congress has adjourned for the month and is on a six-week recess, traditionally a time for lawmakers to return to their districts and engage with constituents.
• It does not appear she held events open to all constituents, and offered little, if any, public notice of her appearances. It’s unclear whether she has any public events planned for the remainder of the summer break.
• As with a two-week Easter recess, Miller-Meeks and other House Republicans in the nation’s most competitive districts, have continued to limit their exposure, this time to potential backlash to spending cuts to programs like Medicaid and food assistance to offset the cost of tax breaks contained in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed by the Republican-led Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump, as well as Trump’s refusal to release federal files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
• The Epstein case has rattled congressional Republicans and the White House, forcing Trump to defend uncomfortable connections to Epstein. House Speaker Mike Johnson canceled votes and sent members home a day early for its summer recess to avoid having to hold votes on releasing files related to Epstein.
• [Miller-Meeks] won re-election last fall by 799 votes, the closest U.S. House race won by a Republican incumbent in the country last year.
• The Cook Political Report, Sabato’s Crystal Ball, and Inside Elections all categorize the 1st District race as a “toss-up.”
• Miller-Meeks also once again faces a challenge from her right from David Pautsch, a Davenport Republican and founder of the Annual Quad Cities Prayer Breakfast. Pautsch took 44 percent of the vote in the 2024 Iowa GOP primary.

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