Campaign Story
A congressperson’s most important obligation is to genuinely understand their constituents. I noticed one congressperson doing many townhalls — it made me realize that I don’t hear other congresspeople talk about their townhalls. So I started to do some digging and found out that not all congresspeople are the same. Some seem driven to stay in close contact with their constituents — others, hardly.
I thought by funding this story, the resulting research would be interesting to everyone. It’s also quantitative — specifically, it’s easy to measure.
Others can draw different conclusions, but the facts would be great to know.
So, come along with me as we seek to write the first story on coverthis.news.
Photo credit: Annie Gavin
A congressperson’s most important obligation is to genuinely understand their constituents. I noticed one congressperson doing many townhalls — it made me realize that I don’t hear other congresspeople talk about their townhalls. So I started to do some digging and found out that not all congresspeople are the same. Some seem driven to stay in close contact with their constituents — others, hardly.
I thought by funding this story, the resulting research would be interesting to everyone. It’s also quantitative — specifically, it’s easy to measure.
Others can draw different conclusions, but the facts would be great to know.
So, come along with me as we seek to write the first story on coverthis.news.
Photo credit: Annie Gavin
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9/28/19
Made Initial Phone Calls
Step 1. Call all the reps and ask! That's what we did. So far, we have data on half of the congresspeople.
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11/5/19
Broke past 50%!
Super excited to be almost in the home stretch. We raised $285 of the target $500. That's 57%! I know we're gonna make it. And when we do we'll do the outreach and collect that data so that we can put some facts on the table. Think of it as a public research project! Key thing is that we publish our research. Stay tuned.
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11/14/19
100% funding!
We reached 100%! That means we raised $500 for our first news story, stay tuned for updates!
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11/15/19
PA. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D) number of townhalls
Heard back from Rep. Houlahan's office, also verified on Facebook, and found she had 10 in-state townhalls so far this year.
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11/16/19
PA. Rep. Susan Wild (D) number of townhalls
Heard back from Rep. Wild's office, also verified on Facebook, and found she had 4 in-state townhalls so far this year.
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11/17/19
PA. Rep. Matthew Cartwright (D) number of townhalls
Heard back from Rep. Cartwright's office, also verified on Facebook, and found he had 4 in-state town halls so far this year; also had 14 coffee events.
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11/18/19
PA. Rep. Mary Scalon (D) number of townhalls
Never heard back from Rep. Scanlon's office, but I was able to verify on Facebook and found she had 3 in-state townhalls so far this year.
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11/19/19
PA. Rep. Madeleine Dean (D) number of townhalls
Was told by Rep. Dean's office to verify the number on her Facebook, I found that she's had 3 in-state townhalls so far this year.
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11/20/19
PA. Rep. Conor Lamb (D) number of townhalls
I've heard back from Rep. Lamb's office, but I haven't gotten a specific answer yet. I was able to verify through his Facebook page that he's had 5 in-state townhalls so far this year.
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11/21/19
PA. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D) number of townhalls
No answer from Rep. Boyle's office, but I've verified on Facebook and found he's had 0 in-state townhalls so far this year.
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11/21/19
PA. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R) number of townhalls
No answer from Rep. Fitzpatrick's office, but I've verified on Facebook and found he's had 0 in-state townhalls so far this year.
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11/22/19
PA. Rep. Daniel Meuser (R) number of townhalls
Initially given answer from Rep. Meuser's office over the phone, but got no response over email for further comment. Verified the initial response via Facebook, and found he's had 0 in-state townhalls so far this year.
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11/23/19
PA. Rep. Dwight Evans (D) number of townhalls
No answer from Rep. Evan's office, able to verify via Facebook and found he's had 0 in-state townhalls so far this year.
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11/23/19
PA. Rep. Fred Keller (R) number of townhalls
Got an answer from Rep. Keller's office on the phone, was told since he is such a new congressperson he hasn't had time for townhalls yet. He's had 0 in-state townhalls so far this year.
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11/23/19
PA. Rep. Glenn Thompson (R) number of townhalls
Still no answer from Rep. Thompson's office, found that his Facebook, like many others, had no event book setup. From what I know currently, he's had 0 in-state townhalls so far this year.
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11/23/19
PA. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R) number of townhalls
Still no answer from Rep. Reschenthaler's office, found that his Facebook had no event book setup. From what I know currently, he's had 0 in-state townhalls so far this year.
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11/24/19
PA. Rep. John Joyce (R) number of townhalls
Still no answer from Rep. Joyce's office, found that his Facebook had no event book setup. From what I know currently, he's had 0 in-state townhalls so far this year.
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11/24/19
PA. Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R) number of townhalls
Still no answer from Rep. Smucker's office, found that his Facebook had no event book setup. From what I know currently, he's had 0 in-state townhalls so far this year.
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11/24/19
PA. Rep. Mike Doyle Jr. (D) number of townhalls
Got an answer from Rep. Doyle Jr.'s office over the phone, told "Not like they keep track, just trying to get through the year without another constitutional crisis." The last in-state town hall in Rep. Doyle Jr.'s FB event book was from 2017. From what I know currently, he's had 0 in-state townhalls so far this year.
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11/25/19
PA. Rep. Mike Kelly (R) number of townhalls
Got an answer from Rep. Kelly's office over the phone and email, mentioned the thousands of constituents reached through telephone townhalls but no mention of any in person townhalls. Therefore, from what I know currently, he's had 0 in-state townhalls so far this year.
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11/25/19
PA. Rep. Scott Perry (R) number of townhalls
No answer from Rep. Perry's office, verified on Facebook and found no in-state townhalls in the 2019 event book. Therefore, from what I know currently, he's had 0 in-state townhalls so far this year.
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11/26/19
Methodology
To collect the information we followed this process:
- We called every representative’s office and asked: a. How many in-person townhalls were done in 2019? b. How many are planned for the remainder of the year?
- If we didn’t get to talk to someone, we asked for an email of someone who could answer the questions. We then proceeded to email the questions.
- If we didn’t hear from a rep’s office, we followed up at least twice: by phone and by email.
- Whether or not we got an answer via phone/email from the rep, we verified the number of townhalls on Facebook.
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Finished!
See the full story here: PA Congressperson Town Hall Scorecard — One A+, Mostly Fs
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12/23/19
We're in the process of making updates to the final report!
Thanks to Gabby Richards, Comm. Director for Rep. Mary Scanlon, and Sean Tobin, Comm. Director for Rep. Brendan Boyle, we were able to update the town hall numbers for Rep.'s Scanlon and Boyle.
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12/23/19
Rep. Mary Scanlon: Updated Numbers
Rep. Scanlon moved from 3 town halls to 9 town halls in 2019; due to information provided by her Communications Director, Gabby Richards.
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12/23/19
Rep. Brendan Boyle: Updated Numbers
Rep. Boyle moved from 0 to 3 town halls in 2019; due to information provided by his Communications Director, Sean Tobin.
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12/25/19
Rep. Madeleine Dean: Updated Numbers
Rep. Dean moved from 3 to 4 town halls in 2019; due to information provided by her Communications Director, Tim Mack.
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12/31/19
Rep. Mike Doyle: Updated Numbers
Rep. Doyle moved from 0 to 1 town hall in 2019; due to information provided by a local reporter in her district, Pittsburgh Post- Gazette's own Daniel Moore.
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1/2/20
First article written about/referencing our research report
Kathleen E. Carey of the Delco Times, a local reporter we reached out to regarding Rep. Scanlon’s town hall numbers specifically, wrote an article based on our research and also spoke about all the work CoverThis.News did to create it. You can read that here: “Houlahan, Scanlon lead in town hall sessions with public”
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1/10/20
Second article written about/referencing our research report
Evan Brandt of the Pottstown Mercury, a local reporter we reached out to regarding Rep. Dean's town hall numbers specifically, wrote an article based on our research and also spoke about all the work CoverThis.News did to create it. You can read that here:
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1/13/20
Third article written about/referencing our research report
Evan Brandt of the West Chester Daily Local, a local reporter we reached out to regarding Rep. Dean's town hall numbers specifically, wrote an article based on our research and also spoke about all the work CoverThis.News did to create it. You can read that here: REGION’S DEMOCRATIC REPS HELD MOST TOWN HALLS
| Name | Donate Amount | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Devin Holdraker | $75.00 | November 15, 2019 |
| Jeff White | $25.00 | November 14, 2019 |
| Nick Gluzdov | $25.00 | November 14, 2019 |
| Richard Dima | $10.00 | November 11, 2019 |
| Theodore Dima | $20.00 | November 10, 2019 |
| Christopher Merkner | $25.00 | November 08, 2019 |
| Karim Husain | $10.00 | November 07, 2019 |
| James Watkins | $25.00 | November 07, 2019 |
| Douglas McConatha | $100.00 | November 07, 2019 |
| JAMES PRATT | $5.00 | November 07, 2019 |
| Austin Gomberg | $10.00 | November 06, 2019 |
| Diane Dima | $25.00 | November 05, 2019 |
| Christopher Dima | $100.00 | November 04, 2019 |
| Andrew Cassel | $25.00 | October 30, 2019 |
| Daniel Paugh | $10.00 | October 24, 2019 |
| George Karmas | $10.00 | October 24, 2019 |
