Updated at 5:52 p.m.

An angry, overflow crowd of about 500 in The Dalles gave Rep. Greg Walden an earful Wednesday about his positions on health care, immigration and climate change. Two hours later, an even larger, more vocal group did the same in Hood River.

The twin bill marked the nine-term Republican's first town halls since he helped craft a controversial GOP health care bill that would have ended coverage for some 24 million Americans by 2026. He closely aligned himself with House Speaker Paul Ryan, the primary sponsor of the legislation, even though more than a third of his constituents in the sprawling 2nd Congressional District are covered by Medicaid, the federal health care program for the poor.

Walden was repeatedly shouted down during both events. More than once, he asked the crowds to give him a chance.

"Let's do this the Oregon way, let's be respectful." he said during the morning session at Columbia Gorge Community College in The Dalles. "You're starting to sound like Congress."

But constituents made their displeasure known in the form of their questions and in response to his answers.

"I witnessed you on television with Paul Ryan when he announced his so-called health care bill," Roger Wagner said during The Dalles town hall. "That bill eliminates 24 million people off of health care. But that wasn't enough. You also wanted to cut funding for Meals on Wheels, well-baby care, all the while giving $1 billion in tax cuts to the wealthy and your corporate buddies?"

The health care bill proved so deeply unpopular, with both moderates and the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, Ryan never bothered to take it to a vote.

In the afternoon, a young student drew a standing ovation from the 800 or so gathered at Hood River Middle School when she urged Walden to distance himself from President Donald Trump and call him out when he makes offensive remarks about women and immigrants.

Walden said he's done exactly that at times, noting that he issued a statement condemning Trump's executive order banning immigrants from certain Muslim-majority countries.

The crowd in The Dalles got vocal when Ian Chandler, who works in the fruit industry, told Walden that the Republican position on immigration was not only unfair to immigrants but also creating a damaging labor shortage for local growers.

"Republicans are issuing a lot of negative rhetoric about immigrants," Chandler said. "Kids are hearing a lot of terrible things about their parents and their people. Immigrant labor is 99 percent of our labor."

Walden was often vague or evasive in his responses, sometimes veering off into the legislative history of an issue. On at least one point, Walden was unequivocal: He favors Trump's promised border wall with Mexico. The crowd booed.

Gretchen Kimsey, a 50-year resident of The Dalles, told Walden that she had voted for him like clockwork every two years. But no more.



"I feel you've abandoned me for the right, the far right," she said. "Where are you Greg Walden? You have abandoned the middle way. You no longer represent many of your constituents. Come back to the middle."

Not everyone was critical. A constituent at the Hood River meeting drew applause when he praised Walden for his efforts to protect the north side of Mt. Hood.

Afterward, constituents said they generally appreciated Walden's willingness to face a hostile crowd. Chandler, the orchardist, and fellow fruit grower Dane Klindt agreed that Walden has in recent years tipped to the political right, which has caused "confusion," among his longtime supporters.

"As he rises up in the national Republican party, he's trying to play along with the party line versus his constituents," Chandler said.

The orchardists agreed, despite the general dissatisfaction at the town hall and the congressman's close involvement in the health care debacle, that Walden remains in good shape politically, at least for now.

"He's not vulnerable," Klindt said. "He could lose Hood River and Bend and maybe The Dalles. But in the entire district, he's in no trouble.... yet. We'll see what this administration and Congress does."



Indeed, Walden could soon be back in the health care hot seat in the nation's capital. Trump said Wednesday that he and the Republicans will take another run at repealing Obamacare and passing their own health care bill. Whether he'll use the widely condemned bill devised by Ryan and Walden is unclear.

-- Jeff Manning

503-294-7606