Sioux County Conservatives is excited to host John Hendrickson on Wednesday, May 22 for Pizza & Policy at the Sioux Center Pizza Hut. Hendrickson will talk about the Electoral College.
Hendrickson is a policy analyst for Iowans for Tax Relief. He previously served as a research analyst with Public Interest Institute. Prior to that he worked as a political reporter and as a researcher for the Heritage Foundation. He earned his BA and MA degrees in History from the University of North Dakota. He specializes in American political and constitutional history.
Beto O’Rourke, a Democrat running for President, said there is “a lot of wisdom” in abolishing the Electoral College. Sen. Kamala Harris, another presidential candidate said she’s open to the discussion. Mayor Pete Buttigieg tweeted a clip of himself saying the Electoral College “has got to go.”
“The debate is not new to American politics — whether or not the Electoral College should be replaced by a direct national popular vote for president — but the question, and the resolution, goes deeper than just elections, politics and representation,” Hendrickson said. “It goes directly into the heart of our constitutional Republic. The Electoral College is fundamental to our constitutional system of limited government, federalism, equal representation and separation of powers.”
Hendrickson noted the clear importance placed on the Electoral College by our Founding Fathers.
“The Electoral College was created by a compromise during the great debates that resulted in the written Constitution of 1787,” he said. “In fact, the Founder’s rejected a measure calling for the direct election of the president. The simple argument for keeping the Electoral College is the fact that it works.”
