Every Friday afternoon since February 2025, people have gathered outside Bill Huizenga's district office in Holland, Michigan. They want one thing: a town hall where they can ask their congressman a question to his face.
They still haven't gotten one. According to Heartland Signal, Huizenga has held only phone town halls since 2025, as a congressman and as a candidate. His race against Democrat Sean McCann, with days to go, is within a few points in most polls.
Huizenga's campaign did not respond to Heartland Signal's request for comment.
"Create a scene"
The phone-only approach started in March 2025, when crowds were packing town halls across the country to ask Republicans about Elon Musk's cuts to the federal government.
On March 7, 2025, nearly 50 people stood in freezing temperatures and falling snow outside Huizenga's Holland office. The Associated Press reported that a few hours later, Huizenga held his town hall by phone. Many of the questions were about Social Security. On the call, he explained why he wasn't meeting people in person:
"I know this may not be satisfactory to some who would like to just create a scene and be, you know, be disruptive. But we know that this is extremely effective for reaching people."
That same week he told a local TV station the outreach flooding his office was "funded and organized by outside partisans." One of the people outside, longtime Holland resident Linda Visscher, told the AP she wasn't being paid to protest. Her sign read: "Our House seat is not your entitlement, you are accountable to your constituents."
Why the phone format matters
A phone town hall isn't the same as standing in a room with voters. In person, voters get to question their congressman face to face and watch how he reacts to the question and to the crowd. Critics say the phone format lets Huizenga's campaign screen questions and limit spontaneous back-and-forth, Heartland Signal reported.
In March 2025, a representative for his office told FOX 17 the calls were the most effective way to reach constituents, "reaching nearly 100,000 residents." Reaching people isn't the same as answering to them.
The door closed too
Over the same period, Huizenga changed how his district offices deal with the public. In-person meetings now require an appointment, and some callers are sent to voicemail or an online form.
Beth Matthews, a spokesperson for the Ottawa County Democrats, described what happened when local residents kept visiting his office to raise concerns:
"After several visits, a Ring camera appeared on his office door, and constituents were no longer allowed inside. Calls went unanswered, and emails requesting appointments received no response."
According to Matthews, Huizenga has met in person with the people outside his office only once since the protests began, in April 2025. Only recently, with the election close, has he started going door to door.
What voters wanted to ask him
The people outside his office have plenty to ask about. We've reported that Huizenga reported owning Johnson Controls stock through his first seven years on the committee that oversees the stock market, while a nearly $1 million ad campaign praises him for voting to ban congressional stock trading. We've reported that his campaign paid his half-brother's company more than $400,000. And we've reported that he scrubbed his issue pages from his campaign website within about a day of a poll showing him trailing.
Those are the kinds of questions voters want to put to him face to face.
He's not alone
Huizenga is one of several Republicans who moved to phone town halls after party leaders advised members to skip live events. Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, who once bragged about holding 105 town halls, hasn't held an open one in more than 500 days. In Michigan's 4th District, though, voters have been showing up at their congressman's door every week for 20 months, and he still hasn't come out to talk to them.
In summary
Bill Huizenga has held no in-person town hall since early 2025. He replaced them with phone calls critics say let his team screen questions, and called in-person critics people who want to "create a scene." His Holland office now requires appointments, and a local Democratic Party spokesperson says a Ring camera went up on the door after constituents kept coming. Protesters have stood outside every Friday since February 2025, and by the local Democrats' count he has met them in person once.
