<![CDATA[This study examines the mediating role of public trust in the relationship between political communication strategies, political crisis management, and public satisfaction in a mixed urban–rural electoral context. Using a quantitative explanatory design, the research surveyed 250 adult constituents in the West Java IV electoral district and analyzed the data with partial least squares structural equation modelling. Political communication strategies and political crisis management were modeled as exogenous constructs, public trust as a mediating variable, and public satisfaction as the endogenous outcome. The results show that both political communication strategies and political crisis management have positive and statistically significant direct effects on public satisfaction, and that they also exert positive effects on public trust, which in turn has a relatively strong positive effect on satisfaction. Mediation analysis further indicates that public trust partially mediates the relationships between both communication constructs and public satisfaction, with significant indirect effects alongside smaller but still significant direct paths. These findings demonstrate that communication quality, transparency, and responsiveness, both in routine interactions and during crises, shape citizen satisfaction substantially through the development of trust in their representative. The study contributes to the literature on political communication management by empirically validating a trust‑based mediation model in a Global South democracy and offers practical implications for legislators’ communication practices in increasingly digital and high‑risk information environments.]]>
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