While West Virginia’s Republican representatives in Congress won the last election by huge margins, their own constituents are continually asking them to have public town hall meetings.
The representatives and senators are dodging those sorts of public events. They reply to phone calls and emails with canned responses — or no responses at all.
Now, in the last three weeks, Sen. Jim Justice has called off as many appearances in the state. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and Rep. Carol Miller have not announced any town hall events. Rep. Riley Moore touted what he called a town hall, but was really a teleconference sponsored by a conservative special interest group.
Moore posted this week on the social platform X that he participated in a “tele town hall” about the Big Beautiful Bill on Aug. 19, hosted by the West Virginia chapter of Americans for Prosperity.
But unless you had one of the 150,000 phone numbers the conservative political advocacy group, founded by the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers, said they dialed that evening, you wouldn’t have been able to participate.
Karina Meilkeljohn, a participant in the town hall from Berkeley County, said she received a call at 5 p.m. and missed it. Twenty minutes later, she answered a second call, and an automated message said a town hall was in progress with the representative.
Jason Huffman, executive director of the AFP-WV, confirmed they did not publicly announce the event. He said the phone calls were enough promotion.
He said the numbers they called came from a list of registered voters, and the calls were made using a third-party telemarketer outfit.
While Huffman acted as a moderator on the call, people listening in could sign up to ask their own questions directly to Moore. Huffman said the calls were screened primarily to make sure people stayed on topic about the impacts of the highly controversial spending package.
“I thought it was a fairly well-rounded discussion,” he said, noting West Virginians were, on the whole, happy with the permanent tax cuts in the recent spending bill.
Meiklejohn said she had participated in similar town halls in the past when Republican Alex Mooney represented the district.
“I was honestly surprised that there was more pushback in the questions than I had heard on Mooney’s town halls,” she said. “In general it seemed the mood was concerned, but still positive toward Moore. No one was hostile.”
Meiklejohn recalled that one man, a veteran, was outspoken about healthcare costs under TRICARE, the insurance used by veterans and those in the military.
The next day Moore’s post on X, thanked the participants.
Moore’s office didn’t answer questions about why he hasn’t held an in-person town hall or participated in one that isn’t backed by a special interest group.
Capito, who is seeking reelection next year, also has not held any town hall meetings. She was in Charleston this week and posed for photos with Social Security Administration Commissioner Frank Bisignano. As she walked into the federal building, Capito would not answer questions. Bisignano also would not answer questions.
Meanwhile, Justice has scheduled three events in recent weeks and canceled each one the day before.
On Aug. 6, Justice, a sometimes farmer, was scheduled to give remarks at the Capitol Market in Charleston, but canceled. On Aug. 18, he nixed a tour of a mine with the West Virginia Coal Association. Then, the 74-year-old senator scuttled an appearance at the Upshur County Senior Center on Aug. 21.
But William O’Grady, a spokesman for Justice, noted the junior senator was at the state fair.
A picture on Facebook shows him grinning with state treasurer Larry Pack while sitting in a golf cart next to Baby Dog.
The next day, he appeared in Lexington, Kentucky, to speak at a dinner held by the commonwealth’s Republican Party.
O’Grady said the Senator’s schedule is busy and cancellations are pretty typical.
“We unfortunately get overbooked at times.”
Erin Beck contributed reporting to this story.