Republican members of Congress have overtaken Democrats in holding town halls this year, holding 42% more despite a historical advantage for Democrats.
The difference grows wider when considering in-person town halls rather than phone or virtual ones. About 75% of GOP-held town halls, or 236, were in person versus only 58%, or 127, for Democrats. Safety concerns are frequently cited as a reason Democrats don't hold more in-person town halls.
Since 2019, Democrats have hosted more town halls each year than Republicans. However, the number of Democratic town halls has steadily decreased since 2020, which saw 1,992 town halls. Democratic town halls dropped below 1,000 for the first time in 2022 and dropped to 685 town halls in 2023. The number was only 2% more than Republican town halls.
While Republican town halls have also decreased from 2020, which saw 748 GOP town halls, the decreases have not been as significant as the decreases in Democratic town halls over recent years: There was a marginal decrease of 3% in GOP town halls from 2022 to 2023 and a notable decrease of 26% in Democratic town halls from 2022 to 2023.
With only 221 town halls this year, Democrats currently lag far behind Republicans, who have hosted 315 town halls already this year.
