House GOP rep Stephanie Bice (R-OK) scraps town hall after Dem opponent points out she had scheduled the town hall for the wrong district.
Republican Rep. Stephanie Bice (OK) has canceled her small town hall meeting billed as a "meet and greet" after her Democratic opponent revealed she'd scheduled it in the wrong district.
Bice has fallen under criticism from locals, including her opponent, for refusing to hold any town hall meetings where voters can be heard. Republicans
have faced furious voters across the country, including in very red areas, after they passed President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill," which
makes significant cuts to services, particularly
those in rural areas and
farmers.
The local site, The Lost Ogle, reported Bice's opponent, Jena Nelson, needled the congresswoman after seeing she finally scheduled a town hall. However, she scheduled it outside of her own district.
Nelson, the 2020 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year,
posted a map on X showing the location of Bice's small gathering and where the district lines fall.
"Well, folks, I was going to acknowledge that my opponent finally scheduled an in-person forum event in CD-5 after four long years, but it turns out the venue isn’t even in CD-5," Nelson wrote. "Apparently, she can’t remember what she gerrymandered out of her own district."
Oklahoma City-based photographer
Michael Downes pointed out that he was once in Bice's district while living in the heart of Oklahoma City. After Bice's "minions at the state capitol gerrymandered my neighborhood out of the district," he said the congressman who covers his district is now also the one who covers the panhandle.
"Yep, that’s right," The Lost Ogle trolled. "CD5 is so gerrymandered that even Bice doesn’t know who, what, and where she represents! That’s equal parts funny and nitpicky, and an ironically perfect representation of how gerrymandering has totally wrecked the foundation of our political system. Good times."
The site also pointed out that although the event was listed as free, "I should note that it's already been removed from the WesTen website." The report also said that it cannot confirm whether the event was canceled or simply removed from the website. Bice hasn't said one way or the other on her official congressional website.
Nelson seized on the news.
"We called it, folks. 'Scheduling conflicts' caused Stephanie to cancel her upcoming in-person event. Yeah, right…" she wrote on X, adding a cry-laugh emoji and a chicken.
She attached a screenshot of an email that shares an update on the canceled "Coffee with a Congresswoman" update.
"WesTen District has cancelled the September 26 Coffee with Congresswoman Bice due to scheduling conflicts. We apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you for your interest."
Bice was challenged by a constituent at the end of July when she appeared in an online town that featured fellow Republican Reps. Jason Smith (MO) and Bruce Westerman (AR).
“Without dodging my question or giving me the okey doke, can you tell me why you are not holding in-person town halls, where you can look your constituents in the face, eye-to-eye, and answer tough questions?” the caller said,
according to the site Oklahoma Voice.
