DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Hundreds of people cheered Sen. Ruben Gallego at a town hall meeting in eastern Iowa Saturday as the first-term Arizona Democrat assailed the massive, Republican-backed tax bill signed by President Donald Trump as likely to make “America poorer and sicker.”
Gallego’s upbeat event struck the opposite tone from Rep. Mike Flood’s town hall meeting earlier in the week, when an even bigger crowd jeered the Nebraska Republican for most of a 90-minute event in his state to promote the bill.
Democrats, searching for months after last year’s election defeat for footing in opposing the aggressive tone struck by Trump in his second term in the White House, have gone on the offensive this month, still united in their frustration with Trump but suddenly energized in full-throated opposition to his signature legislation.
“I think this bill is helping Democrats see clearly what’s at stake with the future of protections for so many regular Americans,” said Pete Wernimont of Waterloo, who drove 140 miles (225 kilometers) to see Gallego. “I just hope they are there when it really matters a year from now.”
While some Republicans in safe Republican districts are braving crowds to sell Trump’s law, most in Congress are heeding GOP leaders’ suggestion to keep lower public profiles, especially noteworthy during the August recess following closely on Trump’s signing of the tax cut and spending reduction bill last month.
Democratic activists are rallying to point out what they see as the measure’s political liabilities for Republicans trying to hold their narrow majorities in Congress in next year’s midterm elections.
“This is the galvanizing moment that’s happening because Democrats now understand, we’re the people that fight for the middle class and the working class of America,” Gallego told reporters before the event Saturday. “This is a clarifying moment for us.”
What happened at Sen. Ruben Gallego’s town hall in Iowa?
For two hours, the audience of some 300 people applauded and at times stood cheering for the Arizona Democrat, one of several party figures who have been attacking the bill in congressional districts represented by Republicans. He was in Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ 1st Congressional District, among the most competitive in the nation in the past three congressional elections.
For a party frustrated with an array of Trump administration initiatives, the measure has had its own energizing effect.
“I came here because I work in health care and this bill will hurt health care,” said Alexandra Salter, a physicians assistant from Davenport. “I think we are getting more vocal about it, because we need to speak up.”
The meeting contrasted sharply with Flood’s meeting in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Monday, when an even larger crowd of 700 voiced vigorous opposition to the bill, locking in especially on its changes to Medicaid, the federally funded health care program for low-income American.
The bill, which passed with no Democratic votes in the House or Senate, makes substantial cuts to the health care program, notably by imposing work requirements for many of those receiving aid.
The same frustration that drew Wernimont to Davenport Saturday convinced Ann Ashburn of Aurora, Nebraska, to drive the 70 miles (113 kilometers) to Lincoln to face Flood on Monday.
Ashburn learned about Flood’s appearance through an Omaha-area Democratic group called Blue Dot and reached out to friends who joined her. She dismissed any suggestion that such opposition had been orchestrated.
“I think the momentum could have been much greater had we been better organized,” the 72-year-old retired executive said.
For now, Republicans have their work cut out for them if they hope to use the measure as a reason for voters to return them to the majority in the 2026 elections. About two-thirds of U.S. adults expect the new law will help the rich, according to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Most — about 6 in 10 — also think it will do more to hurt than help low-income people, according to the survey taken last.
Gallego used his trip to Iowa, which included a requisite stop at the Iowa State Fair, to burnish his own profile in a state that, until 2020, traditionally had hosted the first event in the Democrats’ presidential nominating process. Iowa Democrats hope to return to the front of the parade when the 2028 primaries and caucuses begin.
Other figures already popular nationally with Democrats such as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have been making stops in Republican districts decrying the legislation. Ocasio-Cortez last month headlined an event in New York’s 21st District, represented by Republican Elise Stefanik, noting among other items its Medicaid provisions.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is scheduled to hold rallies Sunday in Republican-held House districts in North Carolina. He too planned to focus on Medicaid cuts, and note their impact on rural hospitals in the state where former Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat now running for U.S. Senate, worked with the GOP-controlled legislature to expand Medicaid coverage in 2023.
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