Democrats express anger and frustration with Trump, Musk at Tallahassee town hall 

by Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix
March 22, 2025

It’s not just Republicans who are feeling the wrath from the public at town hall meetings over President Trump’s actions in his first two months back in office.

Democratic voters shared their frustrations with the organizers of a congressional town hall held on Saturday in Tallahassee that featured Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried, former North Florida U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd, and other local elected officials and activists.

“We’re all here today, because it’s time for a different politics. The usual order has clearly broken down. The mechanisms of democracy that we’re used to are threatened, and so we’re going to figure out what we want to do about it here together,” Leon County Democratic Party Chair Ryan Ray said to kick off the meeting with a crowd of several hundred (officials say it was 450) people who jammed into the American Legion Hall.

“We don’t have all the answers right now, but we’re going to develop a roadmap together,” Ray said.

With few Florida Republicans opting to hold town hall meetings because of hostile crowds, Florida Democrats have been organizing their own meetings in red congressional districts.

The U.S. representative for Tallahassee is Republican Neil Dunn, whose Congressional District 2 encompasses 14 counties across Northwest Florida and parts of two others, ranging from his Panama City base to the state capital.

Tallahassee had been represented by Democrat Al Lawson, but he lost to Dunn in 2022 after the Florida Legislature approved Gov. Ron DeSantis’ redistricting map, which made it a ruby red seat. Dunn won by more than 23 percentage points last November.

‘We know this stuff already’

After opening speeches by Ray and Fried, the program called for a panel discussion featuring Boyd, Tallahassee City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow, Leon County Commissioner Bill Proctor, and longtime Tallahassee activist Karen Woodall.

But after a few minutes of Boyd describing his concerns over the executive branch of the federal government not respecting the judicial branch, some audience members began getting antsy.

“Social Security!” one woman yelled. “Let’s talk about it!”

“Get to the point. We know this stuff already,” yelled another voice.

A little later, another voice called out, “What’s the solution? I think we know the problem.”

But there is no single solution, the Democrats admitted. “Join us as we figure this out,” said Matlow.

With Democrats in Washington divided over how to handle the onslaught of radical changes Trump and DOGE leader Elon Musk are making in Washington, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Democrats hundreds of miles away are similarly not yet on the same page about how to overcome such changes while lacking power in all branches of the federal government.

“The purpose of these town halls that are happening, not only all around the state of Florida but all around the country, is to mobilize, right?” said Fried. “It’s to mobilize between likeminded, hopefully shared values between Democrats, Republicans, and independents that are frustrated, angry, and scared about this moment. We hear you. … We are here because we understand the fear, the anxiety, of so many people across the country.”

That anxiety was expressed by one woman, who said she was 78 years old and had driven two hours from Gulf County to participate in the event. “I depend on that Social Security check to pay my bills. Is it going to be there this Wednesday?” she asked.

Frustration

Other Democrats in the audience expressed concern that they couldn’t wait until next year’s midterm election to correct course, but other than the special congressional elections taking place in two Florida districts on April 1, the only thing they can really do is organize, Fried said.

“We don’t have power to change things in Washington, D.C., right now,” the Democratic Party chair told the crowd. “But the way we fight back is by doing the work today, signing up to help us, call our neighbors, organize town halls, organize ways to make phone calls and show up. “

Still, some in the audience weren’t satisfied.

“We’ve been doing that!” one person shouted.

The frustrations are perhaps increased for Florida Democrats, who have seen this once quintessential swing state emerge as a conservative stronghold within the last five years. Jon Doggett, a former Republican, said he wasn’t sure that the playbook for electing Democrats in Florida is working, although he offered no alternative.

“I have given to Democrats in the last two cycles, and I’ve given them a hell of a lot of money,” he said. “And they all seem to have one thing in common: They all lost. And the Democrats used to have the majority of registered voters in this state. We don’t now. What are you going to do to get folks elected? You talk about getting candidates — they’ve got to get elected. And doing the same thing you’ve done over and over and over and over ain’t cutting it anymore.”

Organizers emphasized that while this was the first meeting to discuss plans to combat the Trump administration, it won’t be the last.

Even though the meeting at times got rancorous, Ray was pleased with the event and said it’s the first of many to come. “I think most people walked away feeling good,” he said.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

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