BOLIVAR, Missouri (AP) — One of the few Republican U.S. House members making in-person appearances embarked on a town hall tour of his district to meet with constituents Monday, and a civil conversation broke out.
Rep. Mark Alford and an audience of about 100 in west central Missouri spent an hour bantering politely about Medicaid, the National Guard being deployed in Washington, D.C., and the extended run of aggressive executive action being taken by President Donald Trump.
But gone from the slightly Democratic-leaning audience in the small auditorium on Southwest Baptist University campus in Boliver were the screams of “liar!” that have marked other Republican town halls, notably Nebraska Rep. Mike Flood’s in Lincoln on Aug. 5.
“I don’t think you’re lying to me,” a woman told Alford, a second-term member, as she disagreed on whether cuts to Medicaid in Trump’s signature tax-break and spending-cut bill enacted last month would affect services for children.
In return, Alford referred only once to the measure by the name given to it by Trump, One Big Beautiful Bill, before quickly noting, “I know some people don’t like that name. So I’m just going to call it HR1.”
Alford, who represents a district widely believed to be safely Republican, was safely referring to it by its congressional designation.
There were occasional moments of conflict. Groans and laughter surfaced in response to Alford’s suggestion that the tax cuts in the measure would benefit the working class. Polls show most Americans believe the tax cuts in the bill will largely benefit wealthy Americans.
And longtime Bolivar resident Fred Higginbotham shouted angrily when he suggested to Alford that he was coddling Trump. “I am pissed, and I am pissed at you,” he said. “Get Trump out of office. The man is a dictator. He knows nothing about what he talks about.”
But Alford, a former veteran Kansas City, Missouri, television news anchor, thanked him by name and responded calmly, as he did with each person who spoke during the hour-long, question and answer session.
Alford’s demeanor did little to ease the concerns of Darwina Stewart, a 67-year-old trained nurse who runs a pet-care business in Bolivar, a town of about 11,500 in a rolling swath of forests, rivers and farmland about 140 miles (225 kilometers) southeast of Kansas City.
“You cut Medicaid, you are closing rural hospitals around here,” Stewart said.
Pivoting to describe the congressman, she said: “He seems sincere about his beliefs. But you can’t deny the effect on poor people around here.”
Alford was holding the first of six formal, town hall meetings scheduled throughout Missouri’s 4th District this week, but he had taken questions at less formal stops throughout the day at a cafe, VFW hall and ice cream shop.
Alford has not shied away from open forums with constituents and has faced more confrontational audiences, notably in February and June. But, unlike Republicans in more competitive districts who have kept far lower profiles, Alford has had little to risk in facing frustrated Democrats in the west-central Missouri district where he won 70% of the vote last year.
Nebraska’s Flood has held similar events throughout the year. On Aug. 5, roughly 700 hundred attended his public meeting in Democratic-heavy Lincoln and shouted at the three-term Republican House member for nearly all of a 90-minute forum.
Alford’s audience applauded when he entered, even Dusty Ross, a Bolivar Democrat who told his representative he wanted him to do more to ease energy costs for small business.
“Thanks for being here,” Ross said, after asking his question. “I appreciate you giving everyone a chance to speak.”
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This story has been updated to correct the first name of Alford to Mark, not Mike.