At an invite-only town hall Thursday night, Democratic Rep. Joe Morelle leaned into what has been a conservative call for a Constitutional Convention.
His comments drew a smattering of applause.
"It's a little scary,” he said, “because we've had this this government for so long, it's hard to get away from. But maybe it is time to rethink it.”
The roughly 50 or so people in attendance were constituents who applied and were chosen via a lottery of sorts, controlling for what organizers said was a representative sample based on age, race, income, gender and geography or neighborhood but not party affiliation.
The goal was to foster meaningful discussion at an event that — in an increasingly polarized political climate — has devolved into boisterous and confrontational gatherings devoid of substance.
Morelle’s district covers Monroe County and extends to Victor and East Bloomfield in Ontario County. His remarks reflected an undercurrent of frustration in the crowd.
“I'm scared, I'm worried,” said Quinn Mooney, 25, an enrolled Democrat from Fairport. “I don't necessarily feel that I'm represented, and that I'm fought for in the way that I would like to be.”
Mooney was among those who agreed with the idea of a Constitutional Convention. But he was pessimistic.
“I just, I think that there is still faith that there's gonna be an election that matters in 2026, and that we can still fix it within the system,” Mooney said. “And I wish I could believe that, too.”
The convention push from the right has sought to achieve increased states’ rights and a greater check on federal power. Morelle, meanwhile — as the top Democrat on the Committee on House Administration — had called for constitutional amendments to undo such things as the Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity.
But what he described as an unprecedented and unchecked expansion of executive power has him eyeing a different tact.
"Maybe the idea is to really look back almost like we did in 1787 when the Articles of Confederation weren't working, to call the Constitutional Convention,” he said, adding: "I think it would be hard, and it would be complicated, but maybe we're at the point where we really need ... a brand-new look at the structure of this.”
Two-thirds of the states would need to call for a constitutional convention. Though seemingly unlikely, there is movement. Michigan voters will vote on this in November 2026.
The town hall — intended to focus on themes of democracy and anti-corruption — was tightly controlled, including security guards. Morelle said he championed a recently announced House measure, granting members $10,000 per month to cover personal security, and emulating those added precautions is a way to get others to do the same.
Before the event, protesters with signs and chants voicing opposition to the war in Gaza and Israel and how both manifested in Morelle’s votes and campaign contributions lined the sidewalk in front of the East Avenue office building where Morelle has his district office, and where the town hall was held — and greeted attendees who were ushered in through the back.
Inside, they gathered around tables and hashed out questions, then voted as a group on the top ones, which Morelle fielded, calling on audience members with hands raised for follow-ups.
Questions on Gaza arose within the first 15 minutes of the Q&A, with Morelle pushed to explain campaign contributions and to define his position.
"First and foremost, I actually do not support (the) Netanyahu government,” he said. “He has continued to suggest that there can't be a two-state solution, and I think there has to be a two-state solution. The Palestinians have to have a homeland. I don't know that it needs to be all in one place, but clearly Gaza and the West Bank are the two places.”
Democrats have struggled with this issue. The only other town hall that the Rochester-based group Civic Genius has organized in this way happened in July, involving Democratic Rep. Adam Smith from Washington. It was shut down by Palestinian and Gaza protesters, but organizers said many participants stayed on after the room was cleared and continued to discuss the focus topic: homelessness.
Many of the questions Thursday focused on money in politics, and dysfunction.
Morelle described the Federal Election Commission as "toothless," telling the audience: "The FEC doesn't do any investigations. The FEC doesn't bring any fines against anyone. They've essentially walked away. There's no cop on the beat in the funding of elections in America."
When he asked about mail-in balloting, a handful of constituents said they were opposed to wide-spread use for elections, fearing tampering.
And he spoke against term limits — which has motivated some Constitutional Convention advocates — noting he was marking seven years in the House and two-thirds of those who were in office when arrived have left: "If you really limit the term of members of the House and Senate, you basically leave people who will be there for a short time, who will never understand the complexity of it. They'll be gone. And what it really empowers is the existing, I mean, the lobbying community — they'll be there forever.”
