CLEVELAND — Maine was among a few states at the Republican National Convention whose delegates fought and lost a bid to force a roll call vote on the convention rules Monday in Cleveland.

Maine Sen. Eric Brakey, R-Auburn, said Monday that the move was aimed at preventing party leaders from changing the rules in the middle of the electoral process.

Brakey said he never viewed the opposition movement as an anti-Donald Trump effort as some have characterized it.

“There is some concern about the rules that were passed out of the rules committee that were kind of pushed through by the (Republican National Committee) and the Trump campaign kind of working together,” he said.

Some items of concern in the rules include empowering the RNC to change certain parts of the rules at a later date between conventions, he said.

“I and many other delegates think that’s an unnecessary usurpation of power by the RNC that traditionally has been left to the convention to set the rules,” he said.

But the petition process undertaken by Maine and 10 other states was ultimately thwarted Monday afternoon when delegates from some of those states rescinded their calls for a floor vote.

“It was pretty wild,” Brakey said. “A lot of the Maine delegates were not happy about what happened there.”

The RNC “had people go around the people who had signed on and twisted people’s arms to take their names off the petitions so there weren’t enough to have it meet the threshold,” he said.

A majority of delegates from at least seven states is needed to force a floor vote.

Alex Willette, an attorney from Lewiston and former Maine legislator from Aroostook County, serves as an RNC representative.

He said Monday that member of Maine’s delegation abandoned its efforts for a roll call vote after learning that the newly adopted rules would not, if opposed, revert to those from 2013, but would merely send the issue back to the governing board.

Maine’s delegates are allocated according to statewide caucus results last spring that allotted 13 votes for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, nine votes for Donald Trump and two votes for Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

Willette said he supported Trump during the Maine caucuses earlier this year.

“I think a lot of people are extremely excited to be here,” Willette said. “It’s a once-in-lifetime opportunity for most delegates. You’ve got a presumptive nominee who’s spoken to millions of people. It’s really gotten a lot of folks out to vote and support him throughout the country.”

At the March caucuses, Brakey had thrown his support behind U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, son of Ron Paul. The younger Paul dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but Brakey cast his vote for the Kentucky senator, nonetheless.

The scene on the convention floor Monday was as almost as wild as 2012, when Maine delegates walk off the convention floor, Brakey said.

That year, he served as state director for the Ron Paul campaign.

Brakey sat on the convention platform committee this year, but voted against its adoption due to concerns over foreign policy planks, he said.

Included in the 2016 GOP platform are “several things that I think are outright unconstitutional,” he said.

His proposed amendment that stated only Congress has the constitutional authority to declare war was rejected by the committee.

He failed to remove some of the “more hawkish, war-mongering language,” such as a call for putting sanctions on Russia and providing weapons to their enemies.

“Unless we really are ready and feel like it is appropriate for us to go to war with a nuclear superpower, I don’t think that is very smart,” he said.

He objected to language to depose the government of Syria.

“We’ve seen time and again” that removal of secular dictators in Middle Eastern countries has led to chaos in the region rather than peace.

“We haven’t made the situation any better,” he said. “In fact, we’ve made it a lot worse.”

Planks Brakey sponsored included allowing terminally ill patients to undertake medical regimens that have not yet received FDA approval and a mandatory audit of the Department of Defense.

Maine Rep. Stacey Guerin, R-Glenburn, included an amendment that would require legislative support for approval of a national park or national monument sited in Maine.

Maine’s GOP sent 24 delegates and 20 alternates to Cleveland. They include:

• Rick Bennett, Oxford, Maine Republican Party chairman;

• Alex Willette, Lewiston, Republican National Committee representative;

• Sen. Garrett Mason, Lisbon Falls;

• Rep. Dale Crafts, Lisbon Falls;

• Jennifer Newendyke, Litchfield; and

• Isaiah Lary, Wales.