No guts, no glory

Given the state Senate's political makeup I expected the end result, but not quite in this way.

I first encountered the fine folks at the Convention of States back at the Unify Delaware Festival in 2021. It was one of the first events of the post-COVID awakening, and it woke me up too.

It took almost exactly a year, and the end result was just the same as I figured it would be had they held the vote in the last part of the 2023 portion of the session. The bid for Delaware to be the twentieth state to demand an Article V Convention of States was defeated in the State Senate on Thursday.

Yet a majority of those voting endorsed the CoS resolution. So how is that possible?

In the final vote of the Senate day, the body’s 21 members split out this way:

In favor, the proper vote (6): Buckson*, Hocker, Lawson*, Pettyjohn, Richardson*, and Wilson. (All six are Republicans; Buckson and Richardson were Senate sponsors.)

Against, the wrong (big-government) vote (5): Paradee*, Sokola, Sturgeon*, Townsend*, Walsh. (They’re all Democrats. But at least they voted.)

Absent (3): Hoffner, McBride, Poore. (all Democrats.) While McBride missed multiple votes on Thursday - probably thanks to running for Congress - it appears Hoffner and Poore bailed early before this vote. That’s just great representation. </sarc>

Not voting, the gutless approach (7): Brown*, Gay, Hansen*, Huxtable*, Lockman*, Mantzavinos, Pinckney. (These are all Democrats, too. Huxtable is the one Democrat from Sussex County, so I’m sure he heard a lot about it.)

(By the way, those Senators denoted with an asterisk are on the ballot this year. The others would be on-ballot in 2026.)

It should also be noted that Rep. Tim Dukes was an additional sponsor of this Senate measure; however, no similar resolution was introduced in the House. Since the House often passes their resolutions by voice vote, we may not have found out who was against.

But what is the harm in this?

APPLICATION FOR A CONVENTION OF THE STATES UNDER ARTICLE V OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.

WHEREAS, the Founders of our Constitution empowered State Legislators to be guardians of liberty against future abuses of power by the federal government; and

WHEREAS, the federal government has created a crushing national debt through improper and imprudent spending; and

WHEREAS, the federal government has invaded the legitimate roles of the states through the manipulative process of federal mandates, most of which are unfunded to a great extent; and

WHEREAS, the federal government has ceased to live under a proper interpretation of the Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS, it is the solemn duty of the States to protect the liberty of our people – particularly for the generations to come – by proposing Amendments to the Constitution of the United States through a Convention of the States under Article V for the purpose of restraining these and related abuses of power.

Apparently Democrats are all in favor of abuse of power by the federal government, a crushing national debt, and unfunded mandates. But that’s not surprising.

And even had this passed, there would still need to be fourteen more states in favor of an Article V convention. Then, should any of these amendments pass out of the convention, 3/4 of the states (38) would have to ratify in the affirmative to place the amendment in the Constitution. It’s a tough process, which is likely why only 27 of them have passed, and none since 1992. (The 27th Amendment had to do with Congressional salaries, and actually was one of two proposed amendments not added to the initial Bill of Rights.)

That difficulty is probably why Democrats and their allies are trying to work around the system in various ways, such as the National Popular Vote compact that’s supposed to take effect when states representing more than 270 electoral votes pass it. It’s not a Constitutional amendment, but an agreement that would likely be tossed right out the door when a Republican president wins the popular vote.

While I embrace the idea of a Convention of States, I think there are a few more things they could work on. I knew that if I looked for “28th Amendment” on my site I would come across this post, which I would still wholeheartedly support with the exception of tweaking the 30th Amendment.

Without looking at who has filed for next session, there are seven Senators who either voted against or were too gutless to take a stand on the Senate Continuing Resolution. Remove five of them, keep the six Republican supporters, and suddenly Delaware begins to get with the program. (It’s likely we would need about six additional seats in the 41-member House for backers, as the House didn’t have a similar resolution there to gauge support.)

Next month, once the filing deadline has passed, I’ll begin looking at these state and local races. Among those Senate districts here in Sussex County, Russ Huxtable, Dave Lawson, and Bryant Richardson are up.

Let’s start making Delaware a more truly progressive state.

In the meantime, though, you can Buy Me a Coffee, since I have a page there now. You can also like and restack this piece so others can enjoy it.