Oregon – Oregon U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley has announced a new series of town halls that will take place in the Willamette Valley later this month. These town halls were originally planned for a different time. The three events will take place on Thursday, January 22, and Merkley will be in Yamhill, Polk, and Marion counties to talk to people in person.
The events are part of Merkley’s ongoing 2026 town hall tour, which aims to reach every section of the state. The senator has kept up a long-standing tradition of having open town halls in all 36 of Oregon’s counties. This gives citizens a chance to talk to him and his staff about their concerns, ask questions, and express their local priorities.
Merkley added that these talks with people in the neighborhood are very important to his work in Washington. He and his team want to learn more about the problems that are most important to individuals in different parts of the state by spending time in each county. He said that hearing directly from people in the area helps him do his job better and makes sure that local opinions are still heard in the federal decision-making process.
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The first town hall will be on January 22 at 10:30 a.m. at the National Guard Armory in McMinnville, which is in Yamhill County. Merkley will then go to Polk County for a 1 p.m. meeting at the Colonel Nesmith Readiness Center in Dallas. The last visit of the day will be in Marion County, where there will be a town hall at Chemeketa Community College’s Building 6 Auditorium in Salem at 3:30 p.m.
Merkley has kept his promise to hold at least one open town hall in each Oregon county every year since he took office in 2009. The senator’s team encourages residents to attend and take part in the discussions as the tour continues across the state.
