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Washington • Rep. Chris Stewart postponed his planned town hall for tonight when House leaders said they would continue votes on the repeal and replacement of Obamacare into the evening in Washington, before the bill was pulled.
The town hall was scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. at Salt Lake City's West High School. But because of the planned votes on the American Health Care Act, the Utah congressman's office said he would be unable to make it back to Utah for the town hall. The last nonstop flight from Washington's closest airport to Salt Lake City leaves at 2:40 p.m. Utah time.
Stewart has rescheduled the town hall meeting for 7 p.m. on Friday at West High School, in Salt Lake City.
"I am very disappointed that I can't be at the town hall tonight, but the unexpected delay of the healthcare vote requires me to be in Washington, D.C." Stewart said in a statement. "Hearing from my constituents is my top priority, which is why I've rescheduled the town hall for the earliest possible date, next Friday. I look forward to seeing everyone then."
Stewart said he wanted to get the word out about the postponement as quickly as possible, as "hundreds of people" have contacted his office in recent days wanting to attend. He said when the event was scheduled a month or so ago, Stewart and his staff had didn't know they would be continuing to work on the Obamacare repeal legislation this week.
"I have a responsibility to stand there and listen to them and try to understand what it is that's driving them right now," Stewart , whose 2nd Congressional District encompasses Salt Lake City as it stretches from southern Davis County to St. George, told the Tribune earlier this week.
Stewart is the first of Utah's all-Republican congressional delegation to schedule an in-person town hall meeting with constituents since Rep. Jason Chaffetz last month met with a raucous overflowing crowd that often interrupted and talked over him in opposition to his conservative positions and support of President Donald Trump. He said he's done about 50 town hall events over the years.
A Salt Lake Tribune-Hinckley Institute of Politics poll completed statewide this week found that 92 percent of voters want Congress members to hold these in-person public meetings. The poll of 605 registered voters, conducted March15-21 by Dan Jones & Associates, also found that 46 percent said they had attended a town hall.
"I'm not afraid to do this," Stewart said of town halls, saying he looks forward to standing there and having constituents "speak their minds."
Utah Republican Party Chairman James Evans has urged representatives and senators not to hold such meetings, claiming there was "intimidation and violence" at the Chaffetz event at Brighton High School. Chaffetz disputed that characterization and backed off from his original claim that out-of-state professional agitators had infiltrated and organized the hostile crowd at his town hall.
Sens. Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee, as well as Reps. Rob Bishop and Mia Love have either avoided town hall meetings altogether or held tele-conferences that gives the elected official control over which questions to field and to limit any attempts at follow-up.
— Tribune Reporter Luke Ramseth contributed to this report.