As the roll call vote to nominate Donald Trump as the Republican candidate began Tuesday night, the seats of the Virginia delegation were empty when a statement was read against the actions of the party leaders on the previous day.
News4's Chris Lawrence said he was told the delegates were "in a meeting" and planned to support Trump. The delegates said they were at a meeting off-site and arrived late to the arena.
In addition, the District of Columbia delegation announced their 19 delegates should be split, 10 for U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and nine for Ohio Gov. John Kasich. But according to GOP rules, all delegate votes were counted for the presumptive nominee.
Both Maryland and Virginia, who returned to the floor, later cast their delegate votes for Trump.
The votes came a day after GOP leaders approved rules for the convention over furious objections. Anti-Trump delegates had tried to force a state-by-state roll call vote on the rules, which to their dismay require delegates to vote for a nominee based on their state primaries and caucuses.
Despite what initially appeared to be a successful attempt to force a full vote, Republican leaders proceeded with a quick voice vote, and Trump's team declared the "dump Trump" movement vanquished.
Ken Cuccinelli, the former attorney general of Virginia and one of the state's delegates, flung his credentials on the floor after the announcement Monday night.
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"Look, I am proud of Virginia Republicans here today," he said to NBC News. "We stood together as a majority for the rule of law. I wish the RNC had followed the lead of its first commonwealth, the commonwealth of Virginia. It's really a sad day for them."
The Colorado delegation walked out of the proceedings on Monday. There have been indications they and other states may attempt to make a statement of protest during Tuesday’s roll call nomination vote.
This story has been updated from an earlier version.
