As Americans were chilling champagne on New Year's Eve, Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.) was still focused on connecting with constituents by holding a telephone town hall that day.
MacArthur's call with constituents was one of many that members held over the holiday recess. At least 19 members held 33 different town hall events from Dec. 19-Jan. 3. By contrast, members hosted 24 town halls during the holiday break last year.
Another representative - Jason Smith (R-Mo.) - held a town hall that day, although he had a more urgent reason for doing so. He brought representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Mississippi Valley Division to discuss the flooding in the Midwest that threatened more than 7 million residents in 15 states.
Republicans, led by Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), hosted more than twice the number of events compared to their Democrat colleagues. The junior senator from Kansas, who is up for re-election this cycle, held six events this break. He is mindful that his Senate colleague Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) nearly lost re-election last cycle because constituents saw him as being out of touch.
Only two Democrats, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas) conducted multiple events, with two apiece. Pallone even held a telephone town hall on Dec. 23, when most of his constituents were busy preparing for Santa's arrival.
Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-Conn.) and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), both proponents of gun control regulations, co-hosted a constituent forum on the Mental Health Reform Act. The Dec. 21 forum took place in Danbury, less than 20 miles away from the site of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which has prompted debate about the link between mental health care and gun violence.
