NC Newsline by Brandon Kingdollar
For 10 months, Rep. Tim Moore (R-N.C.) has served the people of North Carolina’s 14th Congressional District. Many of them are still waiting to meet him.
Over a period where some North Carolina lawmakers have held as many as six town halls, Moore has held zero — so fed-up constituents have hosted two without him.
At gatherings in April and September, residents of Shelby and Kings Mountain came to the microphone to raise their concerns with a life-sized cutout of Moore after the genuine article declined invitations to attend. Hosted by Red Wine and Blue, a suburban women’s political advocacy group, the gatherings drew dissatisfied voters from across the political spectrum.
David Johnson, a Charlotte man who has voted for Republicans for 60 years, introduced himself at the April event as a “reasonable, common sense conservative man” before reading a series of questions written on note cards to the cardboard standee.
“I consider myself to be an Evangelical Christian, and I’m dismayed by your behavior in support of Donald Trump. He is vindictive and cruel and his actions are the antithesis of what Jesus taught and expects of us. Do you condone this behavior?” Johnson said. “Your silence speaks volumes. Please stand up for your constituents and represent all of us.”
Moore declined to comment for this article. In an April statement on X, his office disavowed the first event.
“A ‘town hall’ being promoted in Shelby is not an official event and is not affiliated with Congressman Moore’s office,” the post reads. “In recent months, left-wing groups across the country have staged similar events to create political theater, instead of genuine dialogue. Our office remains committed to serving constituents through direct outreach, regular meetings, and responsive casework.”
The events are part of a trend in North Carolina politics: Republicans have almost entirely ceased holding in-person town halls amid constituent backlash over federal funding cuts, changes to Medicaid and SNAP, and immigration crackdowns. Meanwhile, Democrats are trying to stoke opposition to the Trump administration ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Only one Republican, Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.), has held an in-person town hall with constituents in 2025, according to public affairs platform LegiStorm, compared to three of the state’s four Democratic members of Congress. And neither of the state’s Republican senators has held an in-person, virtual or telephone town hall since the beginning of the year.
‘Just an opportunity for people to yell’
When Edwards met with constituents in Asheville this March, he faced vitriol from the audience.
Constituents confronted him over Trump’s comments about annexing Canada, cuts to the VA, and the potential elimination of the Department of Education. At times, the congressman was drowned out by boos and jeers.
“Would you give me a chance to answer this question, and then you can start yelling after I answer it?” Edwards said at one point amid the interruptions.
Edwards has not held an in-person town hall since, nor has any other North Carolina Republican. National Republican Congressional Committee chair Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) told his colleagues in March to stop holding in-person town halls entirely.
“In-person town halls are no longer effective because Democrat activists are threatening democracy by disrupting the actual communication at town halls,” Hudson later told reporters.
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), the longest serving member of Congress in the state, has followed that same practice for more than a decade. She last met constituents at an in-person town hall in Statesville in 2010 and has not held a telephone town hall since June 2015, just a week before Trump rode down the golden escalator to kick off his campaign.
She said in a Fox News appearance in March that constituents are welcome to come to her office with questions, but as a rule, she doesn’t “do town halls.”
“It’s just an opportunity for people to yell at their member of Congress,” she said.
Even though North Carolina Republicans on Capitol Hill outnumber their Democratic colleagues 12-4, they have held just five more town halls than the state’s Democrats.
“The Republican Party appears to believe that they have very little to gain and potentially a lot to lose by holding town halls,” said Chris Cooper, a political scientist at Western Carolina University.
All members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation were contacted for comment for this article. Of the Republicans, only Rep. Addison McDowell (R-N.C.), who has held two telephone town halls this year, gave a statement. He said he was pleased to reach more than 100,000 constituents through his events in March and August.
“From truck drivers to parents, folks share their hopes and struggles, especially wanting their kids to have a shot at the American dream of owning a home,” McDowell said. “I welcome hearing from those who disagree, because listening makes me a better representative, and I plan to host more before year’s end.”
Telephone town halls are emerging as the medium of choice for Republicans who still wish to meet with their constituents at large. Others, like Rep. Mark Harris (R-N.C.), have tried virtual town halls through platforms like Zoom.
Lawmakers say these formats allow them to reach a much larger pool of voters, particularly in districts that are largely rural, while critics argue they enable members of Congress to avoid difficult questions and exclude voters who disagree with them.
Cooper said that part of the appeal to members of Congress of telephone and virtual options is to avoid “disastrous” scenes like the Edwards town hall.
“They’re obviously a lot more scripted. I think there is a sense from voters that it’s unclear who gets through and who doesn’t get through,” Cooper said. “You’re not going to have somebody get ganged up on by a bunch of constituents, basically.”
‘I need to hear directly from them’
Where Republicans are shying away from unhappy voters, Democrats are taking every opportunity to renew their attacks on the Trump administration.
“Time and time again, constituents tell me that they are horrified by what Donald Trump is doing in Washington,” Rep. Deborah Ross (D-N.C.) said in a statement. “They want to see leaders standing up in the face of Donald Trump’s attacks and corruption. Their words motivate and encourage me to keep fighting.”
Ross has held more town halls than any other member of Congress in the state, with three in-person and three via telephone. She said it’s important to listen to both those who agree with her and those who do not. “To accurately represent my constituents, I need to hear directly from them,” she said.
Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-N.C.) is the only other member of Congress from North Carolina to hold multiple in-person town halls in 2025, with two in addition to her two via telephone. Foushee also held a federal worker listening session in August, which she said was “particularly moving” given the impact job cuts have had on her community.
“Being a Member of Congress is about representing your district as a whole, and without meeting with people from all corners of my district, I would not be able to properly fight for all of our community’s needs in Congress,” Foushee said in a statement. “It isn’t about left or right, it’s about meeting the needs of the American people.”
While Republicans are facing shouts and boos from in-person audiences this year, Democrats in North Carolina haven’t had that experience. Foushee’s town hall crowd in Pittsboro in April asked what steps she and her colleagues are taking to protect health care, defend voting rights, and resist federal cuts, listening intently to her answers.
“I just applaud Valerie Foushee for doing this and giving people a chance to interact with her, and I appreciate her listening and trying to answer those hard questions,” said Pittsboro resident Connie McAdams after the event.
Rep. Alma Adams (D-N.C.) has held one in-person town hall in Charlotte and one via telephone, while Rep. Don Davis (D-N.C.), representing the state’s only swing seat, is the sole Democrat to not hold an in-person town hall in 2025. He held one via telephone in March.
The flurry of town halls by Democrats in North Carolina matches the national party’s approach. According to LegiStorm, Democrats held more town halls in 2025 than both parties combined in 2024, with 1,184 as of Sept. 22. That’s more than double the 585 town halls hosted by Republicans.
With a total of 1,772 town halls between the parties — about 1,000 of which have taken place in person — 2025 has the most activity since 2021, when Republicans sought to turn the country’s pandemic malaise against President Joe Biden.
Some events are aimed at calling out Republicans who have not met with their constituents. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) held a “People’s Town Hall” in Hudson’s district after his guidance to avoid such events.
Democratic challengers facing long odds in the 2026 midterms have tried the same playbook, hoping to turn their opponents’ absence to their advantage. Chuck Hubbard, a retired journalist challenging Foxx in the Fifth Congressional District, has held in-person town halls in Greensboro, Boone, Lenoir, and Stokes County in 2025.
“My opponent says she won’t hold town halls ’cause she’s afraid of people yelling at her,” Hubbard said in a video on social media. “Well I am gonna hold town halls. I look forward to hearing from you.”
‘What are you afraid of?’
If North Carolina lawmakers are increasingly able to avoid confrontations with voters without electoral ramifications, it is in part because 13 of the state’s 14 congressional seats are noncompetitive. This month, the General Assembly is set to vote on a map eliminating North Carolina’s last swing district.
“They have drawn safe districts where they can easily win, I guess, by having a majority of people that agree with everything that they do, so they don’t have to compete,” said Janice Robinson, North Carolina program director for Red Wine and Blue. “It’s corruption and it’s morally wrong.”
Cooper said politicians may feel no need to hold town halls when they can appeal to voters directly on social media, where confrontations are easier to ignore than in face-to-face interactions. The value in hosting such events comes from showing voters they’re available and listening, he said, as voters need a way to tell their representatives when they’re upset.
“Maybe the puzzle isn’t why are these folks not [holding town halls], but rather, why are others holding them?” Cooper said. “They are going to be reelected almost no matter what happens.”
Robinson said her group organized the constituent-led town halls in Moore’s district so that voters can still have an outlet to voice those frustrations to a lawmaker who has not given them the chance to do so. Her group emailed videos of both events to the Moore’s office, but never heard back.
“How are you going to be able to represent the people in your district if you are not taking time to hear from the people in your district?” she said. “It baffles me that elected officials can just ignore the people that they are supposed to be representing.”
Channeling that desire to be heard, other advocacy groups have held similar gatherings. Local chapters of Indivisible, a national progressive organization aimed at resisting the Trump administration, have held empty chair town halls for Foxx, Rep. David Rouzer (R-N.C.), and Rep. Pat Harrigan (R-N.C.) to push them to hear from constituents in person.
The state’s senators have also been the subject of these forums. Around 700 gathered in Raleigh in March to protest Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) for ducking town halls, directing their fury at a stuffed chicken standing in for him. Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) got the same treatment in Winston-Salem in April.
“I think the American people want to see less destruction and some idea that there’s a plan in the works here,” said Richard Scott, an unaffiliated voter from Fuquay-Varina after the Tillis event. “It’s about time that in North Carolina, we begin to realize there’s a whole lot of people that aren’t in one party or another, and you should be listening to them.”
Robinson said she hopes people across the partisan spectrum push back on lawmakers who refuse to do town halls. As redistricting narrows the winning margin for each member of Congress, she said, it creates an opening for a surge of typical non-voters to make a difference.
“It comes down to, what are you afraid of? Are you afraid of being challenged? Are you afraid of having a question asked that is someone expressing that they disagree with you?” Robinson said. “If you are that thin-skinned, then you should not be in office.”