Some Republicans are making a strong, last-minute push for Nebraska to return to a “winner take all” distribution of its electoral college votes. This includes members of Nebraska’s federal delegation like Sen. Pete Ricketts and Congressman Mike Flood, the latter appearing on the Sean Hannity show recently to make his case.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, who recently traveled to Nebraska to show his support for “Winner Take All,” said “I hope the people in Nebraska will understand this may come down to a single electoral vote. And I just don’t believe a Harris presidency is good for Nebraska.”
State Senator Mike McDonnell, who only recently switched parties to become the GOP’s 33rd Republican in the state legislature, won’t support the idea. This would effectively bring an end to the Republican plan, withholding the vote needed to overcome a Democrat filibuster. McDonnell spoke at the Pachyderm luncheon in June and was asked specifically about this issue.
“If I was King for the day, I would switch it to the whole country, 435 congressional districts,” McDonnell said. “I want to make sure elections are fair, and I want to make sure the turnout is as high as possible, but I want to make sure if you’re running for office, you’d better get ready to work.”
McDonnell also opposed Nebraska splitting its electoral votes as a matter of fairness.
“Right now, 50% of our population in the state of Nebraska is in Douglas, Sarpy, and Lancaster counties. What if we would just say, okay, we’re 3 of those 93 counties. What if we’re going to have a Governor’s race, and once you get those three taken care of, the other 90 better fall in place? I want to make that Governor work throughout the whole state for every county.”
Reaction to McDonnell’s decision was swift.
“I’m incredibly disappointed by Senator McDonnell’s opposition to Winner Take All,” Sen. Pete Ricketts said from his X account “We should cast our five electoral votes with one voice by switching from a system that dilutes Nebraska’s vote to a system that allows us to elect a President for all Nebraskans.”
Even President Trump took a shot at McDonnell from his Truth Social account, calling him a “just another ‘grandstander.” “I LOVE OMAHA, and won it in 2016,” Trump said. “Looks like I’ll have to do it again!”
With only 43 days until the Presidential election, the likelihood of Nebraska preventing an electoral split legislatively looks like a fairly certain impossibility.
