Democrats face frustrated voters at raucous town halls

Republicans are not the only lawmakers facing confrontational town halls over the congressional recess. Democratic lawmakers are increasingly facing the ire of the party’s liberal base over their response to the Trump administration.

Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) clashed with pro-Palestinian attendees at a town hall on Wednesday, leading police to shut down the forum. That followed Rep. Glenn Ivey’s (D-Md.) town hall on Tuesday, where he faced criticism for being too “calm” in the face of the Trump administration. And in California, Democratic Rep. Gil Cisneros faced constituents angry about Social Security, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, potential cuts to Medicaid and fired federal workers.

“I wish you’d be angry,” one woman said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

And it’s not just House Democrats in safe districts taking heat from liberal constituents. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) responded to frustrated constituents at a town hall on Wednesday by saying that her job is to be “more than just an activist” and that “yelling” from progressives has not stopped President Trump.

The raucous events come as Democrats have sought to use town halls to target GOP lawmakers in their own districts. The town halls have Republicans and Democrats on edge as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are put on the defensive on home turf.

“If you’re home, my town halls look like a Republican town hall. I’m not taking it personally. People are scared. They want to see us do something,” Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) told CBS News’ Face the Nation over the weekend.

The confrontations also come as Democrats continue to struggle to find their footing during the second Trump administration. And recent polling paints a dismal picture of the state of the party.

An NBC News poll released on Sunday found that only 27 percent of voters said they had a positive view of the Democratic Party, while 55 percent of voters said they have a negative view of the party. Additionally, 20 percent of Democrats in the poll said they had a negative view of the party.

A separate CNN poll also released on Sunday had similar findings, showing the party with a record low 29 percent favorability rating. Fifty-two percent of Democratic-aligned adults said the leadership of the Democratic Party is currently taking the party in the wrong direction, compared to 48 percent who said the party’s leaders were taking them in the right direction.

This week’s town halls appeared to be a manifestation of that data.

“[Democratic leadership] neglects to see the army of pitchforks behind them ready to fight back if they’re willing to take action,” said Sawyer Hackett, a progressive Democratic strategist.

“Right now what we’re seeing is those pitchforks aren’t necessarily on our side,” he continued. “Their anger is pointed at Democratic lawmakers.”

There is growing frustration from Democrats across the ideological spectrum over Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), along with nine other Senate Democrats, helping Republicans advance a House GOP-drafted government funding resolution. Liberals had hoped the Democrats would use the Senate filibuster to block the bill.

“We’ve had one source of leverage to push back on these people and do everything we can to grind the gears of government to a halt to fight back and we didn’t use it,” Hackett said.

Even Democrats who voted against the resolution in their respective chambers, like Ivey and Slotkin, have faced tough questions over the future of their party at town halls.

“Voting the right way is literally the least you can do,” said Adam Green, the co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. “The expectation is that Democratic elected officials proactively do things to show that they get that we’re in an existential fight for the future of America.”

“Anybody on the inside who does not understand that their role in this moment in time is to be an organizer in addition to a policy maker, is failing to meet the moment. That’s an absolute fact,” Green said.

One attendee at Ivey’s town hall on Tuesday told the congressman that his constituents “want him to show fight and you are not fighting.”

“It’s not that you’re in the minority, it’s that you’re not even working on a shared strategy and that is failure,” the attendee shouted, garnering applause.

“The message you should clearly take to your colleagues from your constituents is this: we are not interested in hearing that you’re in the minority. We know that. We want you to show some of the backbone and strategic brilliance that Mitch McConnell would have in the minority,” the attendee said.

Progressives say Democratic officials and lawmakers need to take Trump and Musk head on, not just through votes.

“I wish more Democratic lawmakers would call for boycotts of Musk’s products,” Hackett said. “I wish more Democratic lawmakers would pressure their Democratic states to cut contracts with SpaceX, to cut contracts with Starlink, to cut contracts with Tesla charging stations.”

“Democratic leadership seems to think that they can just lay low and point at Republicans until the midterms,” he said.

Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright noted Democrats are “fighting with alligator arms tied behind their back in this case,” but said the key battle will be at the ballot box in 2026.

“We’ve got to keep our eye on the bigger prize and that’s winning elections because that’s how we change the tone,” he said. “But it doesn’t mean that leaders in our party get a free pass on making bad political decisions.”

Republican lawmakers are also grappling with viral videos emerging from heated town halls. Republicans have blamed the interruptions on Democratic agitators, but earlier this month House GOP leadership urged members to hold virtual events or telephone town halls as opposed to in-person events. Democrats have used the opportunity to put their Republican counterparts on defense by traveling to GOP districts to hold town halls.

“What we are seeing in town halls across the country is a rejection of the failed Republican agenda, and it’s why vulnerable House Republicans are hiding from their constituents. They know they are witnessing the beginning of the end of their majority,” said Viet Shelton, a spokesperson at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Progressives say there are Democratic lawmakers who are taking a step in the right direction. A number of Democratic senators have gone on the offense this week, holding town halls in GOP House districts within their respective states.

“If one is reading tea leaves, the willingness of Democratic senators to go to House Republican districts within their state and step on toes to fight for the future of America, is hopefully a good signal of backbone to come,” Green said.

Progressive figures like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) are taking matters into their own hands, hitting the road on their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour. Sanders told the New York Times on Thursday that a goal of the tour is to encourage more people to “run as independents outside of the Democratic Party.”

At the Las Vegas stop of the tour on Thursday with Rep. Steven Horseford (D-Nev.), Ocasio-Cortez told attendees to “look at every level office around and support brawlers who fight.”

"Because those are the ones who can actually win against Republicans. Let's be real about that,” she said.

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