If the presidential election somehow comes down to Nebraska, Republicans have a plan to make sure it works out in former President Donald Trump's favor.
Democrats haven't won Nebraska in a presidential election since 1968, but the Cornhusker State's post-1992 system of allotting three of its five electoral votes based on congressional district results allowed former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden to each pull one electoral vote in 2008 and 2020 respectively by performing well in the 2nd district, which includes the Omaha metro area. According to a report by the Nebraska Examiner, state Republicans want to stop the leak by passing legislation that would turn Nebraska into a winner-take-all state like every other state in the union except for Maine, and they're getting help from the Trump campaign.
GOP legislators had made this push before but were never able to find the 33 votes in the state senate necessary to overcome a filibuster. This time, however, they're as close as they have ever been, with Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, a Republican, and some national GOP leaders turning up the pressure on a few remaining holdouts.
On Wednesday, Pillen and Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen hosted two dozen state senators at the Governor’s Mansion. Several of the attendees told the Examiner that there were skeptics who left the meeting with a much more cooperative attitude.
One of the potential defectors is state Sen. Mike McDonnell, an Omaha-area Republican who switched from the Democratic Party earlier this year. He once said that he would never support a winner-take-all election in Nebraska, but five people attending the meeting told the Examiner that he was now looking for a way to get to "yes." Republicans whipping votes for a winner-take-all system believe that McDonnell's support would open the floodgates for other wavering legislators.
Democrats insist the effort will fail.
“Republicans are bullying legislators,” Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb told the Examiner. “They do not have the votes, and this is all political theater for Trump.”
One of the out-of-state actors urging a change is Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who visited the meeting at the Governor's Mansion to stress the national security and economic stakes of making sure Trump wins the election, which could come down to Nebraska's sometimes-errant electoral vote breaking a tie.
On Wednesday evening, Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., used his X account to post a letter from the five members of Nebraska's all-Republican House delegation supporting a switch to winner-take-all. It is “past time that Nebraska join 48 other states in embracing winner-take-all,” the letter said. A spokesperson for the Trump campaign told the Examiner that they and other Republicans have been calling, texting and going door-to-door for months in hopes that any holdouts would also hear from their own constituents over the proposal.
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