By Erin Golden

Minneapolis Star Tribune

A day before a scheduled town hall meeting, U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer distributed a cautionary news release Tuesday warning that he would leave if the event gets raucous and reconsider similar gatherings in the future.

The message highlighted the sudden prominence of congressional town hall events. Typically low-key, often held in community centers or church meeting rooms, they rarely attract major attention. But recent weeks have seen opponents of President Donald Trump pack town hall meetings hosted by Republican members of Congress, and publicly call out lawmakers with no public events scheduled.

“Behavior that goes beyond the bounds of civil discourse is threatening to drive into extinction the civic institution known as a town-hall meeting,” read the missive from Emmer’s office. Activist groups on the left have been spreading word of Emmer’s Wednesday night event in Sartell.

The protest-like atmosphere at some of the forums recalls a similar dynamic early in the Obama administration, when conservative blowback against passage of the Affordable Care Act prompted confrontations at meetings held by Democratic members of Congress. It helped give rise to the Tea Party movement on the right.

Now Democrats are looking for a similar dynamic. Democrats who represent Minnesota in Washington, including Rep. Tim Walz and Rep. Betty McCollum, are advertising their own upcoming town hall events. McCollum, who hosted two town hall events in January and has four public events scheduled this week, is focusing some of her gatherings on topics targeted by Trump’s administration, including climate change and the Affordable Care Act.

“Our community’s voices are what drives me as I work to protect Minnesotans’ health care and hold President Trump accountable to the American people,” McCollum said.

Republican Reps. Jason Lewis and Erik Paulsen, of the state’s Second and Third Districts, have held recent “telephone town hall” events, but no public, in-person meetings in their districts. Pressed by constituents and activists for more public engagement, both Lewis and Paulsen have taken to social media to detail their own range of interactions.