Rep. Mark Messmer spent his entire campaign hiding from the voters.

Now as a sitting member of Congress, he’s still trying to hide from voters while creating the illusion of support by curating a friendly audience.

Tuesday night, he held an advertised Tele-Town Hall event for his first public appearance since being elected to the House of Representatives last November. Except it wasn’t a “public appearance” at all. It was a carefully-curated town hall with only hand-picked people allowed to participate.

Constituents were asked to pre-register at least three hours before the event, with a form stating that those who register would receive a phone call at the time of the meeting.

However, numerous Libertarian and Democrat voters who pre-registered for the town hall days in advance – including K. Richard Fitzlaff, who was Messmer’s Libertarian challenger for election, and Eighth District Democratic chair Dave Crooks – never received the call.

That’s a clear attempt to shut constituents out. Messmer doesn’t just represent the Republican voters in the Eighth District, he represents everyone, yet he refuses to face difficult questions or anyone who might disagree. He refused to debate his opponents during the campaign, he has repeatedly refused interview requests from multiple media outlets – including the Evansville Courier and Press – and continues to avoid the voters.

“Time and again in Indiana, we see elected officials serving in what should be considered a public servant’s office refusing to meet with those they may disagree with while still claiming to represent all who live within the district,” Fitzlaff said. “Congressman Messmer is no different, and the events of tonight’s town hall where numerous prominent members of the community, opposition candidates, and even leaders of other political parties were not invited or allowed entry to a ‘public’ town hall within their own district.

“We, as citizens of the Great State of Indiana, must demand accountability and transparency from those who seek to serve us. There is no reason that any politician from any party cannot or should not have to answer the hard questions or face ridicule from those who disagree with them. Those things were once considered the bare minimum of office and are now largely condoned by whoever controls a particular district, even ones as largely gerrymandered as we have here in Indiana.”

Fitzlaff found a constituent shortly after the town hall began who agreed to add him into a conference call to listen in. Listeners could be added to the question queue, but questions were pre-screened.

While the first 30 minutes sounded like any other town hall across America, with questions from people concerned about issues facing the district such as due process, securing the border, the effects of tariffs and abortion, the last half was anything but. At the halfway point, Fitzlaff submitted a question to the operator asking why Messmer voted – along with all but two Republicans – to increase the deficit by $5.7 trillion in the name of “fiscal responsibility,” while adding $221 billion in new spending and setting a dangerous precedent by adopting a scoring baseline that hides at least $5 trillion in deficit-increasing tax cuts.

While the question asking Messmer how he could vote for such a drastic increase in government spending while claiming to support shrinking government was never asked, the following 30 minutes sounded like a donor-sponsored Lincoln Day dinner. He received seven questions about DOGE, three if he would vote to continue a farm bill that had been stalled in Congress since 2023, multiple callers heaping praise, time spent advertising his newsletter and a closing statement thanking him for his support of the “Gulf of America.”

“All of these things individually are cause for concern from a sitting Congressman who has repeatedly refused to speak with or appear in public with his opponents during election season,” Fitzlaff said, noting Messmer went so far as to agree to a debate with him during the Owen County Fair last summer, until Messmer realized he was being recorded and backed off the agreement. “He has also made numerous statements to the media that he will not respond to requests for interviews, giving various reasons, including telling Evansville’s Courier & Press that said they reported erroneous information and would not issue a retraction at the bequest of his Chief of Staff even after the paper provided proof that the Congressman was incorrect.”

We call on Messmer to stop hiding and realize he represents everyone in the Eighth District, not just those who agree with him. Debating your opponents, facing the voters and answering questions from the media are part of the job. If he refuses to do it, he needs to step aside and allow someone who will actually represent the people to do so.