Rep. Chris Hall (D-Sioux City) participated in a hearing in front of the State Objection Panel on Aug. 31 to express concerns on the nomination of Ernest Gigaroa. Gigaroa is a Republican challenging for the House District 13 seat.
Hall is the current representative in House District 13. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hall joined Iowa Safe Schools to talk about his favorite drag queen. At that time, Hall had no Republican opponent.
During the objection hearing, Hall talked about the requirements for nominating a candidate for a state legislative seat at a special nominating convention. The state party chair is supposed to be the individual who convenes the nominating convention.
Hall said the person who objected to Gigaroa’s candidacy wanted a properly dated proof of the call to convention. If a properly dated proof was provided, the objection was to be withdrawn.
Molly Widen of the Secretary of State’s Office said she did receive a copy of an email from RPI Chair Jeff Kaufmann dated Monday, July 13 at 3:54 p.m. That was sent to the Woodbury County Central Committee members and includes the same language that was provided in the PDF sent to the objector.
After conversation, Hall said the objector didn’t believe the objection needed to move forward if the document existed.
“It’s not something I’ve seen though,” Hall said.
The objection was unanimously dismissed by the panel.
