PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Prominent Rhode Island Republican Dawson Hodgson has resigned as a delegate to his party's national convention in Cleveland to protest the candidacy of Donald Trump.

"I resigned as a matter of conscience," Hodgson told The Providence Journal in an interview Tuesday. "I believe that Donald Trump's candidacy is antithetical to the values of my country and the Republican Party, and I don't desire to assist him in any way."

Hodgson said he ran as a delegate to participate in a contested convention, not in a coronation of Trump.

He also doesn't want to invest the time or money needed to be a delegate. "I don't see any value in spending a couple thousand dollars in going to Cleveland in the summertime when Rhode Island is so beautiful."

So, will he vote Democrat in the November presidential election?

"Hillary Clinton is every bit as flawed as a political leader as Donald Trump," he said, ruling out the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Hodgson said he will vote for the Libertarian ticket of former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson for president and backed former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld for vice president.