Calls Grow For Nebraska To Adopt Winner-Take-All System

In a move that could help Donald Trump’s prospects of winning the White House, Nebraska’s GOP leadership is calling on state lawmakers to switch to a winner-take-all system for awarding Electoral College votes before Election Day.

On Wednesday, Republican Gov. Jim Pillen met with two dozen state senators and Secretary of State Bob Evnen at his official residence to encourage the GOP-controlled legislature to pass a law allocating the Cornhusker State’s five Electoral College votes to whichever presidential candidate receives the most votes statewide. South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham also reportedly attended the meeting, according to the left-wing Nebraska Examiner.

Nebraska is one of two states (the other being Maine) that splits its Electoral College votes. As explained by the National Archives, these states “appoint individual electors based on the winner of the popular vote within each Congressional district and then 2 ‘at-large’ electors based on the winner of the overall state-wide popular vote.”

During the 2020 election, Joe Biden garnered a single electoral vote by winning Nebraska’s 2nd District. The reverse happened in Maine, where Trump won the state’s 2nd District and accompanying electoral vote.

As my colleague Brianna Lyman previously explained, the fate of which candidate wins the presidential election could hinge on who comes out on top in Nebraska’s 2nd District. If Kamala Harris “were to win Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin but lose Georgia, Nevada, and Arizona, for example, [she] could still reach 270 — so long as [she] received one of Nebraska’s electoral votes.”

As of Wednesday, Republicans are still shy of the 33 votes needed to overcome a likely filibuster and pass legislation moving the state to a winner-take-all system before the Nov. 5 contest, according to the Nebraska Examiner. GOP Sens. Tom Brewer and Loren Lippincott — the bill’s sponsor — reportedly estimated the measure currently has the support of 30-31 legislators.

“I told them the Government Committee stands ready if they can find the votes, but I think the chances are very remote,” said Brewer, the committee’s chair.

(The Cornhusker State has a unicameral legislature, in which Republicans hold a 33-15 supermajority).

Wednesday’s meeting didn’t appear to change the mind of Sen. Mike McDonnell. A spokesman for the Democrat-turned-Republican purportedly told the Examiner on Thursday that McDonnell, “as of today, is still a no” on changing how the state allocates its Electoral College votes. According to the outlet, “Several of those at the Wednesday gathering said … that McDonnell told them he was looking for a way to get to yes, though he expressed concerns.”

Pillen will not convene a special session until Republicans definitively have the 33 votes necessary to pass the bill, according to a Sept. 13 statement issued by the governor.

In addition to backing from Pillen and Trump, legislative efforts to move Nebraska to a winner-take-all system have received the support of the state’s congressional delegation. The GOP legislators issued a letter to the governor and Speaker John Arch on Wednesday expressing their “united” support for such a maneuver.

“We need a President that will represent all of us, from Omaha to Scottsbluff and everywhere in-between,” the letter reads. “We urge you to return Nebraska to the status quo of apportioning electoral votes based on winner-take-all.”

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