Convention adopts contested resolutions, suspends rules to finalize electors

Delegates moved through the committee’s list of recommended resolutions and set aside several for floor discussion. Two contested items drew the most floor time.

Resolution 20 called for repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Supporters argued that having state legislatures select U.S. senators would restore federalism and reduce national‑level capture; opponents said it would hand selection of senators to state legislatures in a way out of step with modern governance. After alternating pro and con remarks and a chair‑ruled call of the question, delegates voted and the chair announced the motion carried.

Resolution 15, opposing the Wild Olympics proposal for Clallam County, was set aside for discussion; delegates worried the wording was county‑specific. The body carried a floor amendment that widened the language (removing single‑county specificity and inserting a percentage benchmark in the whereas clause) and passed the amended resolution.

A separately submitted resolution by James O’Haughan called on the Washington State House of Representatives to conduct a legislative inquiry under RCW 10.46 and the Washington State Constitution (article and section cited on the floor) into Attorney General Bob Ferguson for alleged bribery and corrupt solicitation. O’Haughan told the convention he had evidence and attorneys to support the complaint; the chair moved the resolution to a vote and it passed.

Facing a 5:00 p.m. deadline for filling presidential electors, delegates voted to suspend the rules and elect the party’s current national committee man and woman as the two at‑large presidential electors; the chair reported the suspension carried by the required two‑thirds majority and the motion passed. Delegates later suspended the 50% first‑ballot requirement for alternates and adopted a top‑10 finishers rule (top 10 vote‑getters become alternates, ties resolved by coin flip) to speed counting; the tellers then prepared alternate ballots and continued tabulation.

Quotes on the floor captured the tenor of debate: Kai Alberts, the author of Resolution 20, argued the Founders intended senators to represent state governments, while opponents said returning to that model would concentrate power at the state legislative level. James O’Haughan, who moved the resolution about Attorney General Ferguson, said he had evidence and counsel and urged the legislature to act.

The convention chair and credentials committee continued to manage ballot tabulation and announced the top delegates as counting proceeded.