Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith was supposed to come to Bloomington for a public town hall April 28. Now, six days before his town hall was set to take place, Beckwith delayed the event until 6 p.m. May 19 and moved it to Ellettsville Town Hall, according to an X post Tuesday.
Cory Grass, Beckwith’s government affairs director and Monroe County Republican Party chair, said in a text to the IDS the delay is due to a scheduling conflict — April 28 is the second to last day of this year’s Indiana legislative session. Beckwith, as lieutenant governor, presides over the Senate and can cast tie-breaking votes.
The April 28 session is likely to run late, Grass wrote.
Beckwith’s communication director Jim Kehoe did not immediately respond to a question on why the town hall was moved to Ellettsville.
Beckwith, a Noblesville, Indiana, pastor, won the Republican lieutenant governor nomination last year in an upset over then-gubernatorial candidate Mike Braun’s pick, Rep. Julie McGuire.
Beckwith has faced backlash for his criticism of IU’s Kinsey Institute and threat against the Indiana Daily Student. He told Indiana Public Media in October the state should monitor what IU and other state schools teach and that conservative students don’t feel they can share their perspectives in class and on campus.
In recent months, some Republican lawmakers’ town halls have grown heated amid outcry against the Trump administration. National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Richard Hudson told GOP House representatives in March to stop in-person public events.
The Indiana Democratic Party hosted an event this month in Bloomington criticizing U.S. Rep. Erin Houchin in response to what some view as a lack of public availability.
Indiana U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz held two contentious town halls in Muncie and Westfield in March. A discussion featuring Sen. Todd Young last week at the Monroe Convention Center gathered a protest outside of around 100.
Beckwith has previously held town halls without Gov. Braun in Shelbyville and Franklin since taking office.
