Constituents ask questions of empty chair after Van Orden skips town hall

Hundreds of residents of western Wisconsin filled the Temple Theater in downtown Viroqua on Tuesday, March 18, hoping to hear from and ask questions of Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden, who was invited to attend the town hall. Instead, they asked those questions of an empty chair reserved for Van Orden.

Like other Republican lawmakers across the country, Van Orden has been under fire in recent weeks for avoiding in-person meetings with constituents, claiming paid “agitators” were being sent to cause trouble. Van Orden canceled a meeting with constituents in Eau Claire in February, claiming he was being ambushed by people who had been sent the meeting details, and a day later his staff changed the location of a community meeting in La Crosse at the last minute after constituents signed up to attend. Van Orden then held a virtual town hall, but constituents who attended said they weren’t able to ask their own questions.

The March 18 town hall in Viroqua was hosted by a handful of community members; they had invited Van Orden to attend, along with Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan, who represents Wisconsin’s 2nd Congressional District. Pocan attended, answered questions and explained actions being taken at the federal level, from funding cuts to tariffs. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz held an event in Eau Claire that same night.

Van Orden did not respond to the Wisconsin Independent’s request for comment, but he posted about the Pocan and Walz events on Facebook: “Remember how I have been saying that outside agitators have been going to Republican districts to muck rake? Failed VP candidate and wildly unpopular Gov of MN, @GovTimWalz and the despicable @MarkPocan are sauntering over today to do just that in #WI03 today. Told you.”

Tuesday’s town hall started with an informal roll call of the crowd as people rattled off the names of the places throughout the district where they lived, from just a few blocks away in Viroqua to Soldiers Grove, Richland Center and Ithaca, rural parts of Monroe, Crawford and Vernon counties, La Crosse and Eau Claire. When asked, no one in the crowd said they were paid to attend.

On the stage were signs reading “Who do you work for?” and “DVO where are you?” Red fliers saying “Navy SEAL goes AWOL” were passed around. Speakers lined up in front of the stage ready to ask questions, and organizers collected stacks of note cards from attendees who wrote down comments for the congressman. Occasionally, crowd members yelled out phrases like “Vote him out” and “He’s fired.”

Tanja Birke, a Viroqua resident who organized the event with her husband and a few neighbors, said she tried to schedule a town hall with Van Orden but was unsuccessful.

“We talked to people at his office, we emailed people that were supposedly holding his schedule, we talked to his district operations manager, we left him a message, we emailed his scheduler, we filled out the request form on the website. We have to date received zero response from him,” Birke said at the town hall. She said they were recording the hourslong town hall and she would transcribe the questions and comments constituents had submitted and deliver them to his office.

“All we ask is that you listen to us — that is democracy. Like it or not, Mr. Van Orden, we live in a democracy that’s difficult and messy, and if you can’t stand the heat, maybe it’s time to get out of the kitchen,” Birke said.

Constituents had questions for Van Orden about flooding, farming, the future of Medicaid and Social Security, the rising cost of living, education funding, tariffs, election integrity, LGBTQ+ rights and more.

“What I wanted to hear tonight was some specifics about Medicaid services that have positively impacted Mr. Van Orden’s life, and what he was going to do to make sure that those services stayed intact,” said Katey Olson, a Viroqua resident whose son is disabled. “But unfortunately he’s not here, so I guess I’ll send an email.”

“I called you. I have called dozens of times,” Kristen Klein said of Van Orden. An educator at North Crawford Schools who lives in Soldiers Grove, Klein said she’s been worried about her students who are supported by Title I funding. Instead of getting a response from Van Orden, she has seen him criticize his constituents on social media.

Jennifer Morales of Viroqua said that she attended a recent virtual town hall Van Orden hosted, but that it wasn’t enough. “It was absolutely no substitute for this sort of face-to-face dialogue where we can hold each other accountable for protecting our democracy and the programs we all depend on,” she said.

Pocan encouraged residents in the 3rd District to get creative in trying to reach Van Orden, saying if they see him at a parade or another public event they should approach him and ask him their questions.

“If he’s doing any kind of a public appearance, make it a town hall,” Pocan said.

Van Orden was scheduled to hold another virtual town hall on Thursday, March 20.