Ted Cruz , asked if he 's interacting with Texans , says he 's done 17 ` town halls ' in 2017 .
Ted Cruz
But could it be that U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas does n't get personally grilled by constituents very often ? 
The listed events Cruz attended from April through August 2017 demonstrate that the term ` town hall ' can be stretched every which way , even to events not open to the public . 
All told , it looks to us like Cruz took questions at gatherings of selected constituents , mostly business employees -- with the three veterans events open to members of the public who registered . 
Regardless , the Houston lawyer was told during the 2017 Texas Tribune Festival about a Democratic challenger 's suggestion that Cruz had n't visited small Texas towns during the term he won in 2012 . 
"Do you do enough interaction with your constituents , Sen. Cruz ?" 
Cruz , asked if he interacts enough with constituents , said : "In 2017 , I 've done 17 town halls" in Texas . 
Cruz replied : "That is a huge part of the job . 
A town hall , Cruz spokesman Phil Novack later noted by email , is defined by Merriam-Webster as "an event at which a public official or political candidate addresses an audience by answering questions posed by individual members ." 
Cruz , a Republican poised to seek re-election in 2018 , hardly has a reputation of avoiding attention . 
Novack otherwise told us Cruz had held 19 town halls with Texas constituents in 2017 , all "organized by third parties who determined attendees , where" the senator "has taken unvetted questions from anyone in the crowd -- at businesses , factories , chambers of commerce , and in public venues ." 
The businesses , including Division Laundry & Cleaners in San Antonio , Sysco Central Texas in New Braunfels and Igloo Products Corp. in Katy , had employee town halls with Cruz , the chart says . 
The veterans group , per the chart , hosted Cruz at July events in McKinney , Austin and Houston . 
By email to our inquiry , a CVA spokesman , Jim Fellinger , told us each CVA event with Cruz was open to the public by registration , without the group screening out anybody who registered . 
Fellinger pointed us to video posts of the CVA events showing that Cruz each time took questions via a moderator , who recognized a few individuals to speak directly to Cruz . 
Cruz 's office lists 19 events . 
Next , we confirmed from press releases , news stories and video snippets that Cruz made the appearances described in the Novack-provided chart . 
Events in bold on the chart below were open to reporters , Phil Novack , a spokesman for Sen. Ted Cruz , said . 
SOURCE : Chart provided by email from Phil Novack , press secretary to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz , Sept. 28 , 2017 . 
We also asked Novack to share 2017 events Cruz had in Texas that were open to the public without registration -- where anyone could ask a question on any topic . 
Experts evaluate Cruz 's claim . 
Next , we shared our annotated version of the chart by email with academic experts and requested appraisals of Cruz 's statement that he 'd done 17 "town halls ." 
It seems these town halls are open only to the people from the sections of ` town ' that support Ted Cruz . 
In contrast , Trim , who directs a Pepperdine public engagement institute , said Cruz 's use of the "town hall" term struck her as "valid within the common use of the term ` town hall ' in 21st century America ." 
Mark Jones , a Rice University political scientist , said Cruz 's claim fits a "minimalist" definition of town hall in that they involved the senator speaking to , and fielding questions from , constituents from all walks of life across the state . 
But for a town hall "maximalist ," Jones wrote , none of Cruz 's events would qualify as a town hall "because they were held in largely controlled settings and were not open to the general public" with the exception of the veterans gatherings open to people registering ahead of time . 
John Gastil , a Penn State University professor , said that while the "town hall" term has lost clarity of definition over the years , he thinks Cruz 's claim was made to affirm his availability to the public . 
Cruz 's claim "strikes me as dubious ," Gastil summed up .
But could it be that [TGT] does n't get personally grilled by constituents very often ? 
The listed events [TGT] attended from April through August 2017 demonstrate that the term ` town hall ' can be stretched every which way , even to events not open to the public . 
All told , it looks to us like [TGT] took questions at gatherings of selected constituents , mostly business employees -- with the three veterans events open to members of the public who registered . 
Regardless , the Houston lawyer was told during the 2017 Texas Tribune Festival about a Democratic challenger 's suggestion that [TGT] had n't visited small Texas towns during the term he won in 2012 . 
"Do you do enough interaction with your constituents , [TGT] ?" 
Cruz , asked if [TGT] interacts enough with constituents , said : "In 2017 , I 've done 17 town halls" in Texas . 
[TGT] replied : "That is a huge part of the job . 
A town hall , [TGT] spokesman Phil Novack later noted by email , is defined by Merriam-Webster as "an event at which a public official or political candidate addresses an audience by answering questions posed by individual members ." 
Cruz , a Republican poised to seek re-election in 2018 , hardly has a reputation of avoiding attention . 
Novack otherwise told us [TGT] had held 19 town halls with Texas constituents in 2017 , all "organized by third parties who determined attendees , where" the senator "has taken unvetted questions from anyone in the crowd -- at businesses , factories , chambers of commerce , and in public venues ." 
The businesses , including Division Laundry & Cleaners in San Antonio , Sysco Central Texas in New Braunfels and Igloo Products Corp. in Katy , had employee town halls with [TGT] , the chart says . 
The veterans group , per the chart , hosted [TGT] at July events in McKinney , Austin and Houston . 
By email to our inquiry , a CVA spokesman , Jim Fellinger , told us each CVA event with [TGT] was open to the public by registration , without the group screening out anybody who registered . 
Fellinger pointed us to video posts of the CVA events showing that [TGT] each time took questions via a moderator , who recognized a few individuals to speak directly to [TGT] . 
[TGT] 's office lists 19 events . 
Next , we confirmed from press releases , news stories and video snippets that [TGT] made the appearances described in the Novack-provided chart . 
Events in bold on the chart below were open to reporters , Phil Novack , a spokesman for Sen. Ted Cruz , said . 
SOURCE : Chart provided by email from Phil Novack , press secretary to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz , Sept. 28 , 2017 . 
We also asked Novack to share 2017 events [TGT] had in Texas that were open to the public without registration -- where anyone could ask a question on any topic . 
Experts evaluate [TGT] 's claim . 
Next , we shared our annotated version of the chart by email with academic experts and requested appraisals of [TGT] 's statement that he 'd done 17 "town halls ." 
It seems these town halls are open only to the people from the sections of ` town ' that support [TGT] . 
In contrast , Trim , who directs a Pepperdine public engagement institute , said [TGT] 's use of the "town hall" term struck her as "valid within the common use of the term ` town hall ' in 21st century America ." 
Mark Jones , a Rice University political scientist , said [TGT] 's claim fits a "minimalist" definition of town hall in that they involved the senator speaking to , and fielding questions from , constituents from all walks of life across the state . 
But for a town hall "maximalist ," Jones wrote , none of [TGT] 's events would qualify as a town hall "because they were held in largely controlled settings and were not open to the general public" with the exception of the veterans gatherings open to people registering ahead of time . 
John Gastil , a Penn State University professor , said that while the "town hall" term has lost clarity of definition over the years , he thinks [TGT] 's claim was made to affirm his availability to the public . 
[TGT] 's claim "strikes me as dubious ," Gastil summed up .