Congresswoman Grace Meng held a telephone town hall on May 19 that drew more than 2,500 callers from across New York’s 6th Congressional District. The format has since become a point of contention in her Democratic primary race against Chuck Park, a former U.S. diplomat running to her left, with Park supporters arguing the phone-in event prevented constituents from pressing pointed questions about ICE enforcement, the Israel-Palestine conflict, health care costs, and campaign funding from Political Action Committees (PACs).

Ahead of the call, Meng’s team circulated a Google Form for constituents to submit questions in advance, and attendees could also submit questions during the event by typing them into their phones. A moderator read 11 questions to Meng during the call, which she hosted alongside U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado, the House’s assistant Democratic leader, and Donna Norton, executive vice president of MomsRising. A full, unedited transcript was released afterward, her campaign said.

According to a QNS report by Renee DeLorenzo published June 3, several constituents who participated in the May 19 call said their questions were either passed over or stripped of their specificity before reaching the congresswoman. Melissa Bair, a Woodside resident who submitted a health care question, told QNS she wasn’t certain the question the moderator read was actually hers. “You didn’t hear the voice of a single constituent,” Bair said. “There was no way of trying to correct the question or ask for clarity.” The moderator read a question framed as: “How are you making high-quality health care actually accessible to Americans?” Bair told QNS it felt generic compared to what she submitted, which she described as specifically about constituents who lack any health care access at all.