Since President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, many Republicans have opted out of traditional town hall meetings with their constituents, who have often used such public forums to complain — sometimes in moments that go viral — about the Trump administration and its policies. (In May at a contentious town hall meeting in Iowa, Senator Joni Ernst replied to an audience member’s concern about cuts to Medicaid proposed in Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” by saying, “Well, we’re all going to die.”)
Progressives have tried to leverage the opportunity presented by the Republican absence by hosting their own town hall meetings and engaging constituents in red states and districts. They’ve also countered no-show Republicans through efforts by national figures like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who commonly draw large crowds at rallies in and near Republican-majority areas.
Former Biden administration Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg — widely considered a potential 2028 presidential candidate — is planning a town hall meeting on Tuesday, November 18 in La Crosse, Wisconsin, the home turf of incumbent Republican U.S. Representative Derrick Van Orden.
Buttigieg said: “After voting to give billionaires tax breaks and making health care more expensive, Derrick Van Orden has refused to hold a town hall to talk to the voters he works for in a face-to-face conversation. So, I’m heading to Wisconsin to help give the people he’s supposed to represent a voice.”
(Buttigieg portrays Van Orden as ducking his constituents even though the House has been in recess and out of Washington for almost two months to take part in what Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) called “district work periods.”)
After voting to give billionaires tax breaks and making health care more expensive, Derrick Van Orden has refused to hold a town hall to talk to the voters he works for in a face-to-face conversation. So, I’m heading to Wisconsin to help give the people he’s supposed to represent…
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) November 7, 2025
In a statement last week, when the federal government was still shut down, Van Orden responded to Buttigieg’s meeting by saying: “I am not sure what he is going to talk about, but he should be spending time in DC trying to convince his party to open the government.”
On Wednesday, with the government reopened, Van Orden wrote on social media: “See you in La Crosse, Pothole Pete.”
Buttigieg replied: “I’d be honored for you to join – especially since it would be your first time actually facing your constituents in a town hall. Look forward to hearing you explain your votes to kick Wisconsinites off health care, raise premiums, increase electric bills, and add to the deficit.”
I’d be honored for you to join – especially since it would be your first time actually facing your constituents in a town hall.
Look forward to hearing you explain your votes to kick Wisconsinites off health care, raise premiums, increase electric bills, and add to the deficit. https://t.co/rpZKVV5qDn
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) November 13, 2025
Note: Van Orden, who was re-elected to a second term in 2024 (he won 51.4% of the votes, defeating Democratic nominee Rebecca Cooke), is running for re-election in the 2026 Wisconsin 3rd Congressional District election. Cooke has announced that she will challenge him again.
According to Wisconsin Public Radio: “Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District is one of the top priorities for Democrats nationally as they try to retake the U.S. House in 2026. The House Majority PAC, a political action committee focused on electing Democrats to Congress, recently announced a $50 million campaign to flip at least 14 competitive seats next fall, including Van Orden’s.”