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Morgan Griffith hasn’t held an in-person town hall in over 15 years
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
Town halls have been a staple of politics since the 17th century. The very first town hall meeting in the United States took place in 1633 in Dorchester, Massachusetts, which is a neighborhood of Boston. According to town records, citizens gathered every Monday at 8 am at the sound of a bell to discuss “orders as may tend to the general good as aforesaid.” According to Smithsonian Magazine, the decisions that were made at these meetings were “honored as law.”
The history of town halls in Virginia’s 9th Congressional District has long been prominent. Since the 1920s, archived newspaper records have documented members of Congress representing the 9th District holding town halls and public meetings with constituents.
That precedent came to a close upon the election of Morgan Griffith in 2010.
There are only two instances of documented in-person town halls Griffith has held. Both occurred in 2011, and one of them was not even in Virginia. It was a joint town hall across the state line in Bristol, TN, with then-Congressman Phil Roe (R) of Tennessee's 1st Congressional District.
While Griffith's office does have monthly traveling staff office hours, which can be helpful to some, meeting with a staff member versus your member of Congress is vastly different.
Fire Morgan Griffith examined an abundance of digital newspaper archives from former members of Congress who represented the 9th District and found that almost every Congressperson since the 1920's has held some form of town hall or meeting.
Since 1923, Virginia's 9th District has been represented by 7 different Congressmen: Rick Boucher (D), William Wampler (R), W. Pat Jennings (D), Thomas Fugate (D), John Flannagan Jr. (D), Joseph Shaffer (R), and George Perry (D).
Out of all these men, Rick Boucher appeared to have held the most town halls over his 28 years in office. He is also the longest-serving member in the history of Virginia's 9th Congressional District.
Boucher has publicly stated that he held 70 or more in-person town halls each year across the district’s 27 localities at the time.
Griffith told the Kingsport Times News in 2025 that Boucher "did not hold town halls" throughout his tenure. These comments were made just after Griffith dismissed complaints about his lack of in-person town halls and called them "Democratic talking points."
Archived news clippings below show that Boucher did, in fact, hold town halls.
Boucher's predecessor, William Wampler, held what he called "open-door days," which were functionally town hall-style meetings with constituents. He did not ask constituents to meet him in Washington. He came to them.
Former 9th District Congressmen Pat Jennings, who served from 1955 to 1967, and George C. Peery, who served from 1923 to 1929, also held town hall-style events during their tenures.
Griffith has continuously pushed back on claims that he is not holding enough town halls. In 2025, Griffith told WVVA that he holds teletown halls instead of brick-and-mortar ones because they are "more efficient and more effective."
Griffith also told the Kingsport Times News in 2025 the following:
“I have not done brick-and-mortar town halls in more than ten years due to the immense size and dispersed population of the Ninth District," Griffith said.
At least four of his predecessors, some dating back more than 100 years, never stopped trying to reach their constituents despite an era when travel was slower, more expensive, and more labor-intensive. The district's "immense size and dispersed population" were not excuses for avoiding direct engagement with the people they represented.
A resident of Southwest Virginia, who attended one of these teletown halls, told WJHL in 2025 that the teletown halls aren't effective or engaging.
“Over the period of an hour, he takes a handful of questions that he chooses from people across the district,” Miles said. “And honestly, most of the people are worried about things that he has nothing to do with.”
An individual from Henry County, who also attended a teletown hall in March 2025, posted a comment on Reddit about their unflattering experience.
“I was on his 3/11/25 tele-town hall. I was, unfortunately, not selected to ask a question. It was a complete waste of time. The constituents that asked questions were concerned with telemarketing calls, personal tax questions, how to protest at abortion clinics, and the fact that today’s youth is disrespectful," a Reddit user said. "One had questions about the [Department of Education] being disbanded, and will our taxes will go up to cover the loss of federal funding. He swore Social Security wouldn’t be touched. One elderly gentleman brought up Elon Musk, but the allotted one hour was up, and he didn’t really reply."
Another issue with holding tele-town halls is that portions of Southwest Virginia still lack reliable cell phone coverage. An online coverage map shows that significant portions of Smyth, Washington, Russell, Lee, Wise, Dickenson, Buchanan, Grayson, and Tazewell counties have spotty and sometimes zero cell service. Those constituents should not be excluded from communicating with their member of Congress simply because of where they live.
The picture that emerges here is a member of Congress who is too afraid and too lazy to face his constituents face-to-face. His predecessors did it. Why can't he?
