Congressional listening session

Town Hall Coalition news release
For immediate release, Feb. 8, 2026 CONTACTS:
Town Hall Coalition Chair Coral Swanson, 608-554-3645
Indivisible of Rock County chair Jo Bernhardt, 608-692-1951

EMAIL: townhallcoalition@gmail.com

JANESVILLE – Three local civic organizations invite residents to express their ideas and concerns in a congressional town hall meeting in Janesville on Feb. 21.
The event, organized by the Town Hall Coalition, the League of Women Voters of Janesville and Indivisible Rock County, is open to the public. Diversity of opinion is welcomed.
“We’re eager to give our fellow citizens an opportunity to speak freely and civilly to their representatives and to give the audience the opportunity to hear from their neighbors,” said Town Hall Coalition Chair Coral Swanson.
The organizations invite civil speech only. Shouting, heckling, personal attacks and hate speech will not be tolerated. Comments will be recorded and sent to senators and representatives whose constituents include Rock County residents.
The Town Hall Coalition formed last year after constituents became dissatisfied that Rep. Bryan Steil, R-1st District, had not held any in-person town hall since the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
The coalition formed as a local non-partisan political action group and held its own town hall meeting April 23. Steil was invited but did not attend. Instead, constituents voiced their opinions, which were sent to the congressman.
This second constituent-oriented town hall, titled “We the People Speak,” is set for 2-3:30
p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, in the auditorium of Craig High School, 401 S. Randall Ave. Doors open at 1:30. Park in the south lot and use Door 42, the auditorium entrance. Constituents will be allowed 90 seconds each to deliver their remarks.
Steil and Rep. Mark Pocan, who represents the neighboring 2nd Congressional District, which includes western Rock County, have been invited. So have Wisconsin’s senators, Tammy Baldwin and Ron Johnson. Johnson has declined. Others had yet to respond as of the date of this news release.
Information tables will include League of Women Voters members ready to assist anyone who wants to register to vote.
Those who can’t attend may view a livestream on the YouTube channel: @TownHallCoalition1stDistrict.
Congress members who attend will be allowed brief statements. The rest of the time is for them to listen to their constituents. This differs from the usual congressional constituent town halls, in which the representatives often speak at length. Congress members who don’t attend will be represented by a photo of themselves in empty chairs on the stage.
Event co-sponsors are the League of Women Voters chapters of Beloit and Whitewater, the NAACP, Diversity Action Team and YWCA Rock County. Rock River Democratic Socialists of America endorse this event.
BACKGROUND: Steil held an in-person town hall meeting last year, on July 31, in which constituents engaged in spirited dialogue with him at Elkhorn Area High School. Steil has held several telephone “town halls” since then, but no public, in-person town halls that organizers are aware of. Pocan has held several town halls but none in Rock County. The senators hold constituent meetings mostly in video conferences or by telephone, news reports indicate.