METHUEN — Voters asked for some fight from 3rd District Congresswoman Lori Trahan during a feisty but civil town hall Thursday night.
Trahan, a Lowell native, promised to not wait until the next presidential election or even the midterms to fight back during the event at Tenney Grammar School. Her constituents asked Trahan to counter any potential cuts to programs such as Social Security and Medicaid, while criticizing the Democratic Party for lacking spine.
“I can see the anxiety and the fear and the anger,” said Trahan, a Democrat. “These are going to be big fights but we are ready.”
She said despite the losses, such as the presidential election and the outcome of a recent budget vote, Democrats racked up wins in court. Trahan explained new efforts to reach voters in Republican-controlled districts.
“We are winning the courts because what that administration is doing is illegal,” she said, referring to the administration of President Donald Trump.
But if court rulings are disregarded, as some of those attending the town hall feared, Trahan did not rule out direct action.
“It may very well come to a point when we have to organize a national strike, a national protest,” she said. “We know how to resist here in Massachusetts.”
Lowell resident Judith Durant said she had been worried that Trahan would be too focused on reaching across the aisle but was pleasantly surprised with her performance.
“I just hope it’s true,” Durant said. “The aisle is now the Grand Canyon.”
“I am inspired,” said Michael Bleiweiss of Methuen. “It’s really nice to see a Democrat fight.”
When Trahan said her party’s legislative tools are limited due to the Republican majority in the U.S. House and Senate, she was booed by the crowd.
Trahan decried a recent vote in the Senate to pass along a funding bill that about a dozen Democrats supported, arguing a government shutdown would empower Trump’s efforts to make severe cuts.
“This president is shutting down government every single day,” she said. “I know how pissed I was, I can’t imagine how pissed you were.”
Trahan said not only would any cuts to Medicaid affect the most vulnerable but they would cause serious funding problems for local hospitals still recovering from Steward Health Care’s leadership.
Trahan called out Republicans who had decided not to hold a town hall in the wake of resistance that politicians from both parties have received from voters.
“They don’t want to face seniors who say, “Don’t cut my Social Security,” she said.
Trahan said Democrats needed to do a better job reaching voters by seeking out nontraditional media. One speaker asked her to go on Fox News and Trahan responded that she had done so very recently.
“We didn’t reach people where they are last election,” she said.
The 3rd Congressional District includes Lawrence, Haverhill and Methuen, as well as other Middlesex County communities such as Lowell, where Trahan has her local office. The district also includes communities in Worcester County.
Trahan promised a new direction and a renewed willingness to fight from the Democratic Party. She said in the last eight weeks, more than 100 lawsuits have been filed to counter actions by the Trump administration, and promised action long before the 2026 election.
“I don’t have the patience for it and neither do you,” she said.