Angry voters flocked to “empty chair” town halls around the country this weekend to vent their frustration with Republican lawmakers who are refusing to face their constituents.
Facing a growing public backlash over President Donald Trump’s policies—particularly his megadonor and adviser Elon Musk’s efforts to dismantle federal agencies and purge the civil service—Republican leaders have advised their caucuses to ditch town halls.
In their absence, local activists held packed events in red states and districts during the congressional recess that ended Sunday. Lawmakers were invited but didn’t attend, leaving participants to rage in absentia against their representatives for their unflinching support of the Trump administration.
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In New York, voters addressed an empty chair with a photo of Rep. Elise Stefanik, demanding to know how she planned to stand up for constituents, Albany’s local CBS affiliate WRGB reported.
In Montana, town hall attendees said they were worried about cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to the Missoula Current. At events in Alaska, attendees shared their disgust with Trump for picking fights with longtime allies like Canada while treating Russia with kid gloves, the Alaska Current reported.
In Anchorage, attendees unloaded on empty chairs with signs reading “Chicken Nick” and “Doormat Dan” for Rep. Nick Begich and Senator Dan Sullivan. Not everyone who attended the event supported the name-calling, but many said the anger was justified.
One long-time Republican voter said she was done with Sullivan after he voted to confirm Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“Dan, what were you thinking!?” she said. “Obviously, it’s not the American people, not the defense of the country. Maybe you have a little Russian in you, Dan!”
“Where the hell are you?” demanded another attendee, who said he’d be fired from his job at the Small Business Administration half a dozen times in the chaos that’s gripped the federal government over the past two months.
Sullivan told reporters his time was better spent meeting with legislators and smaller groups—including a $100-per-plate fundraiser—and that he wasn’t going to meet with people who would just yell at him, according to the Alaska Current.
A Sunday event protesting Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido was standing room only with an overflow room. Attendees held signs that said “Issa hold a town hall” and chanted “tax the rich,” according to video posted to Bluesky by organizer Allison Gill.
In Fort Wayne, Indiana, hundreds of people showed up at the Allen County Public Library to denounce Republican senators Todd Young and Jim Banks and Rep. Marlin Stutzman for refusing to meet with them.
“They’ve never been here before, why would they be here now? They’re no-shows. They’re interested in Trump and Elon, they’re not interested in us,” one resident told local TV news station WPTA.
A spokesperson for Banks told the outlet in a statement that, “Attending a fake town hall with a small group of whiny Democrats suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome is not at the top of his priority list.” Trump Derangement Syndrome is the Republicans’ convenient catch-all for dismissing criticism of the president’s policies.
Young’s representatives said the senator “regularly meets with Hoosiers in a variety of formats, including attending meetings and events across Indiana.”
Hundreds of people also flocked to events in Columbus, Ohio; Maryland’s eastern shore; Little Rock, Kansas; Lexington, Kentucky; Billings, North Dakota; and Missoula, Montana, according to Talking Points Memo.
In Maryland, Republican Rep. Andy Harris hasn’t held an in-person town hall since 2017, The Baltimore Banner reported. The progressive group Indivisible invited Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin to drive two hours to Harris’ district to answer questions at a packed middle school gym instead.
During the town hall, Raskin delivered an animated 30-minute speech that took aim at Republicans' claims that angry voters attending the town halls are really paid actors. Stefanik, for example, said in a statement to WRGB Albany that the empty chair town hall was “funded by out-of-district dark money.”
“What’s interesting is that the people who are showing up are not paid protesters, but the people who are not showing up are paid politicians,” he said to cheers.
Harris did not respond to the Banner’s request for comment.
