Rep. Chris Smith Absent at Town Hall in Manalapan

MANALAPAN - Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican Congressman who represents a wide swath of Monmouth County, hasn't held or attended a town hall meeting in 25 years.

So the fact that he wasn't present Wednesday night at a public meeting in Manalapan was not exactly a surprise to organizers. The meeting, held at the Manalapan branch of the Monmouth County Library, was organized by local liberal groups who say they organized the forum in Smith's absence, and to highlight the fact that he hasn't held a town hall since the early 1990s.

"The public town hall meeting is one of the bedrocks of our representative democracy. The people of the Fighting Fourth district are owed face-to-face time with our representative in an open, unscripted forum," said Jim Keady, a resident of Spring Lake, which is part of NJ's 4th District. "If he cannot deliver on that, it may be time for Mr. Smith to be replaced."

Smith represents nearly all of Monmouth County, including towns such as Holmdel, Middletown, Colts Neck, Rumson, Manalapan, Freehold, Red Bank and Wall Township. The 4th Congressional District also reaches into Jackson and Lakewood in Ocean County and Hamilton and Robbinsville in Mercer County. The 4th Congressional District has also voted for a Republican in the past four presidential elections by comfortable margins: Trump, Romney, McCain and Bush.

Despite efforts, Democrats haven't been able to unseat Smith, who has represented the area since 1981. However, he stopped doing town halls years ago because of what he said was bad behavior by the public and even threats to his staff. His spokesman Jeff Sagnip released the following statement to the Asbury Park Press, which covered the meeting Wednesday night: “Smith personally told activists over ten days ago that he would not attend a partisan event disguised as a town hall, as Smith has no intention of subjecting his constituents to the animosity and hostility that has been directed at him and his staff ... Smith regrets that the town hall as an honest, effective means of communication is being undermined by political expedience that relies on disruptions, disorder and deceit.”

Sagnip also said a 17-year-old interning for Rep. Smith had been verbally abused by a caller and that Smith had been called names such as “raving lunatic,” “hateful bigot” and “smug piece of conservative garbage.”

Sagnip also told the APP that Smith is ranked first in the House for having bills with bipartisan supporters.

As Patch has reported, Rep. Smith, a Catholic, is extremely vocal about ending abortion. It was Smith who introduced one of the nation's most controversial abortion bills to date in January, which would prohibit the use of federal funds for abortion or health plans that cover abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is in danger. Smith has advocated for defunding Planned Parenthood and he also wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Past Patch coverage of Rep. Chris Smith:

Monmouth County Congressman Introduced Anti-Abortion Bill That's Now Headed to Senate

All photos of the meeting taken by District 4 Coalition for Change and used with their permission.