Hundreds of Houston-area residents gathered in two different locations Monday night — in Fort Bend County southwest of Houston and in the Clear Lake area southeast of the city — to call for Republican members of Congress to host town hall meetings in their districts.
“I am sad to say, we had a seat reserved for Congressman (Troy) Nehls, and unfortunately, he has not shown up tonight,” Fort Bend County Precinct 4 Commissioner Dexter McCoy, a Democrat, said at a rally held at his precinct’s annex building.
McCoy has joined residents in pushing for Nehls, a Republican who represents much of Fort Bend County, to hold a town hall.
The county commissioner helped organize a rally with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who criticized Nehls for a lack of community engagement.
McCoy has also delivered about 300 letters from residents who have called for a town hall.
A spokesperson for Nehls did not return a request for comment.
In a video posted to social media late last month, Nehls said he refused to meet with “George Soros-funded Democrat activists.”
“They scream, they yell and they disrupt what should be an open, respectful, two-way conversation,” Nehls said in a video responding to the town hall held by Walz and O’Rourke.
The chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, has advised members of his party not to hold town halls.
Conservative members of Congress have been following his guidance as they return home during a two-week recess, according to NBC News.
Across the Houston area, Democratic organizers have been hosting rallies in areas represented by Republicans, including Nehls’ district and others.
In the Clear Lake area, about 300 people gathered on Monday night to call for U.S. Reps. Randy Weber and Brian Babin to meet with constituents.
Weber represents Congressional District 14, in Galveston, while Babin was elected in Congressional District 36, which includes part of Harris County and other counties east of Houston.
These representatives have hosted telephone town halls, but organizers of Monday’s rally said they want to meet with their Congressmen in person.
Weber and Babin were not present at the rally in the Clear Lake area.
“Both of them have been in office for over 10 years and have never, never had a town hall meeting,” John Cobarruvias, who organized the rally, said in his address to crowds gathered there.
“Instead what they do, they have these tele-cons.
I call them tele-cowards.”
A spokesperson for Weber did not return a request for comment.
Babin did not respond to a request for comment sent to his congressional email address.
In Fort Bend County, about 70 people gathered at the annex building for McCoy’s precinct, where they called for Nehls to address their concerns about everything from abortion to immigration, the war in Gaza and gun control.
“The simple reality is that Troy Nehls is too cowardly to meet with his constituents,” said Katherine Stovring, a local activist who helped organize the rally in March.
Mark Lester, an Air Force veteran who has lived in the Katy area for about 20 years, voiced concerns about what he views as “extreme” political opinions voiced by Nehls.
“If we want change, we’ve gotta get rid of Nehls,” he told Houston Public Media.
“It’s just that simple.”
Vicki Coffman has lived in Fort Bend County for more than 25 years.
She said she was motivated to attend the town hall by concerns over President Donald Trump’s immigration policy and his remarks about wanting to deport U.S. citizens to serve time in Salvadoran prisons – and Nehls’ support for the president’s policies.
“I’m furious at what’s going on in Washington and I’m furious at the way that Representative Nehls is just going along with violations of our Constitution,” she said in an interview.
Congress will reconvene on April 28.
Executive Producer Rob Salinas contributed to this report.
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