Indiana U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz Westfield event continues trend of contentious town halls

This story was updated with more information this weekend.

Indiana U.S. Representative Victoria Spartz is the first House Republican to attend a town hall in Indiana after Speaker Mike Johnson encouraged GOP members to skip them.

That advice came after members of Congress faced tough questions from constituents at town hall meetings. Spartz's Westfield town hall Friday night was no different. 

Spartz represents Indiana’s 5th Congressional District and planned to answer constituent’s questions about improving healthcare, balancing the federal budget, and fixing the national debt.

Some people showed up as early as 3 p.m., including Christine Kassebnia, who waited 2 hours to get in. She said she is concerned about potential cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. She wanted to ask Spartz about that and said she feels under-represented.

“We are not represented by this… at all. Not one thing have I heard from them, that represents me or anybody in this room. I don’t think we have any billionaires here, do we? I don’t think so,” Kassebnia said.
 

People wrote their questions and turned them in to Spartz's team. A team member then selected each question and read that name – for the person to ask it or opt for the question to be read aloud for them.

Throughout the Q&A, Spartz covered a plethora of subjects -- including tariffs, CDC funding, the recent Signal app group chat leak, veterans affairs, immigration, and calls to reign in the Trump administration.

One question came from a registered Republican named "Ben from Westfield." He did not stand up to ask his questions, so a staffer from the Spartz team read it aloud.

“Why have Republican Congress members not reigned in the president’s illegal, unconstitutional orders?” the staffer read.

This was met with a “Do your job” chant from the crowd. Spartz said, “Executive orders, it’s not a way to govern," but then she said Congress can’t currently get the work done.

“Unfortunately to pass any law right now, it would take 60 votes in the Senate. We cannot pass anything,” Spartz said.

READ MORE: Indiana U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz’s town hall in Muncie met with protests

The Westfield police handled security at the door, and shortly after the town hall began they stopped allowing people in. Most of the seats were filled, by several hundred people, but a large standing room only space in the back was largely empty.

As the meeting progressed, the crowd became louder and more vocal. People began leaving. As the doors to the venue would open, chants from dozens of protesters outside could be heard, including more chants of “Do your job.”
 

Spartz took more questions after the town hall. As the small group of constituents asked her about healthcare, LGBTQ rights, and veterans, Spartz maintained a positive tone and support of Trump administration policies.

One constituent asked if the Major Richard Star Act will be passed this year. That bill would give full benefits to anyone injured in combat. It has been introduced several times.

“You guys [are] the best. We will never let you down. We need to actually do things that help people, people that actually, that sacrificed their life for us, and veterans as well,” she said. “So we need to do a better job and stop wasting money on things that are wrong, and that’s what we are trying to do. Look at our federal government and try to do things that are better and then stop doing things that are waste.”

Friday’s event was held at the IMMI Conference Center in Westfield. The town hall was originally planned to take place at the Westfield City Hall’s assembly room, but was moved to the new location citing capacity concerns. The assembly room’s seating capacity is 150 and the IMMI Conference Center fits 775. Director of Media Operations for Rep. Spartz, James Lalino, said they expected the event to be packed.

Spartz holds a second town hall meeting at the Muncie City Hall on Saturday from 11 A.M. to 1 P.M.

Contact WFYI digital producer and reporter Zach Bundy at zbundy@wfyi.org.