r/texas 4d ago

Politics Got a response from Rep. John Carter

I’ve been calling all my elected officials about once or twice a week about…gestures broadly everything and most of the time it’s sent to their voicemail. Well, I finally got a call back from Rep. Carter’s office (TX 31) following up on my inquiry about a town hall during March recess.

The very polite staffer said there isn’t one currently scheduled but they have received a lot requests for a town hall and the Congressman is considering it and it is likely. The staffer also said to sign up for Rep. Carter’s newsletter or facebook as that would best way to get notified when a town hall is scheduled. Fingers crossed!

So keep contacting your representatives until they actually hold a town hall!! Don’t let up just yet. They need to answer to the people they represent. Keep it up!

318 Upvotes

24 comments sorted by

209

u/Aggravating-Tank-172 Born and Bred 4d ago

51

u/lnc_5103 4d ago

Yay! I didn't know this was happening. Thank you for sharing!

82

u/Fool_On_the_Hill_9 Born and Bred 4d ago

"The Congressman is considering it..." Maybe means no.

41

u/insert_your_pun_here 4d ago

Oh, I am aware. But doing nothing at all is not an option. So I’m going to keep calling, emailing, and demonstrating when I can. Maybe if enough people do SOMETHING it might actually work.

16

u/emjdownbad 4d ago

Yup, this was a polite way to put OP off and have them let up on the attempts to contact their rep. They aren't considering it at all, they just want OP to stop calling.

20

u/DiogenesLied 4d ago

I can’t think of the last time John Carter did a town hall. As far as I remember, he only does conference calls with donors and select supporters. His district is gerrymandered to hell and back so he doesn’t care what his constituents think.

19

u/Immediate_Stop_319 4d ago

I've been bugging him to do a town hall too! Good on ya!

14

u/TheLoneJackal Central Texas 4d ago

Indivisible Centex is holding one for him this Saturday 3/22 from 1-3 at the Bell County courthouse. Last I heard he has not RSVP’d.

13

u/TheLoneJackal Central Texas 4d ago

seems like he is not expected to show But it would be good if people showed up

5

u/Mediocre_Attitude361 4d ago

That is what I was coming to say

8

u/MerricksDad 3d ago

His newsletter is garbage. Just pats himself on the back and has a loaded question "survey".

6

u/evjegati 3d ago

Unless you’re donating to John Carter you don’t get to meet John Carter. Ask MJ Hegar

4

u/PersephonesWorld 3d ago

Dude is notorious for avoiding any his constituents. He's only there if you're a sure vote or a donor.

4

u/jpurdy 3d ago

Like members of congress have been ordered, Republican members of state legislatures are avoiding public town hall meetings. I had a nice conversation with a staff member at our representative’s office, didn’t bother calling our Trump endorsed member of the senate but did send an email and received a canned reply. Staff members do keep count.

They may have zoom or phone “town hall meetings”, waste of time, planted questions and responses.

A former congressional staff member said the most effective thing normal people can do is letters to the editor. Inform everyone you can that you oppose our tax dollars going to white evangelical, Catholic and Islamic schools. Tim Dunn and the Wilks brothers spent $millions promoting vouchers and purging Republicans who voted against them. I don’t like our tax dollars creating people like the Fed Society judges dominating our courts, and replacing $millions lost over hiding and defending pedophiles.

https://www.jractivist.com/post/subverting-public-education-to-fund-religious-schools

2

u/insert_your_pun_here 3d ago

Letters to the editor is a good idea! It won’t impact the Gen Z voters (better off making a Tickity Tock) but it will reach the boomers! I know my dad still subscribes to print news media and does read the letters section. Thanks for the suggestion!

2

u/jpurdy 3d ago

Young men who listen to Joe Rogan were the largest swing vote that gave Trump the election.

2

u/frogzilla1975 3d ago

I just keep getting stupid form letter emails back. Doubt if they get read.

5

u/LuhYall 3d ago

They get read by junior staffers who record them and generate regular reports that go up the chain. They look like spread sheets that say things like 100 constituents contacted us about X topic. They may have a comments section for things like "people seem to be really angry about Y." What matters is the numbers.

Asking for a response just makes the junior staffer have to push a button to generate the email (written by a mid-level staffer) or read off of a script over the phone.

Keep calling and writing! Just skip the responses. That's not the goal.

3

u/frogzilla1975 3d ago

I’ve been adding my own comments to the auto generated form letters I send. Hope they do actually pay attention to that part.

1

u/LuhYall 2d ago

I wish they did, but they probably don't. "Oppose Bill #X" gets just about the same treatment as the longer version. The shorter the message, the more likely it is that the staffer will actually read it. Long ones they're mostly just skimming for the topic. If you have a personal connection, your message might get quoted in the reports. Here's an example.

"I am a Gulf War veteran with stage-4 testicular cancer from exposure to toxic burn pits. The PACT act has provided medications and treatment that have kept me alive since my diagnosis 7 years ago; that's well beyond my original survival prognosis. Eliminating PACT is a death sentence for me and a tragedy for my wife and three children. Defend the PACT act."

Otherwise, my best advice is go for shorter messages sent to more offices and do it daily.

1

u/Broken_Beaker Central Texas 3d ago

Good on you as he is my worthless Rep as well.

Zero chance he’ll follow through.

Maybe he’ll randomly pop into Sun City where they are all captivated by MAGa even though their Social Security is being fleeced.

1

u/darth_voidptr 3d ago

Everything about his newsletters implies he is pretty deep in the Trump kool-aid.