BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The face of Rep. Chris Collins, who continues to shine on the national stage in support of President Donald Trump, is now also shining down from two electronic billboards in Western New York.
Citizens Against Collins has raised $3,330 on an online fundraising page, and the group's co-founder, Michelle Schoeneman, says constituents have left messages at his office and sent emails but have yet to get a response to their request for a town hall meeting.
"I would love to have a town hall meeting where lots of people came and the hall was packed," said Schoeneman, "but I would really hope that people could stand up at the microphone and ask questions and listen to his answers and then just go from there."
In response to Citizens Against Collins, a spokesman for the congressman, Michael McAdams released a statement, which said in part:
“The left-wing activists, many of which reside outside of NY-27, organizing these publicity stunts will never be satisfied, despite having multiple opportunities to share their message. The fact is only three months ago, voters in NY-27 overwhelming elected Congressman Collins with 68 percent of the vote, and voted to elect Donald Trump by a 25 percentage margin over Hillary Clinton.”
"We can't seem to find out where he's going to be or where we can attend his events," Schoeneman said. "They seem to be only private events or announced at the very last second or we just don't know until after the fact.
"We are not interested in shouting him down and yelling and screaming. We're interested in really having him hear us and then having him decide how he wants to represent us based on his full constituency."
Schoeneman says they'll continue to mobilize and make their voices heard, looking ahead to 2018 when Collins is up for re-election.