Former President Donald Trump’s backers want Nebraska to abandon the hybrid model it has used to award electoral votes the past three decades, saying Cornhuskers should speak with one voice.
The latest push is so all five electoral votes go to Mr. Trump and to keep liberal voters in Omaha from awarding one of the votes to Vice President Kamala Harris. The move could prove crucial on Nov. 5.
“It is past time that Nebraska join 48 other states in embracing winner-take-all in presidential elections,” both of Nebraska’s U.S. senators and its three House members wrote in a recent letter to Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, a Republican. “We need a president that will represent all of us, from Omaha to Scottsbluff and everywhere in between.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, met with Nebraska lawmakers this week to lobby for the change to winner-take-all, an idea that’s simmered for years but is reaching a boiling point.
Nebraska has split its five electoral votes under a hybrid model since 1992. Two electoral votes are given to the state’s popular vote winner, while the others are awarded to the candidate who wins in each of Nebraska’s three House districts.
The 2nd District is home to Omaha and liberal voters, making it a blue dot that awarded its electoral vote to President Biden in 2020.
The single electoral vote could decide November’s contest.
In one scenario, Mr. Trump flips Arizona, Georgia and Nevada back into his column and Ms. Harris takes Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, leaving both with 269 electoral votes. If Ms. Harris wins the 2nd District in Nebraska, it would clinch her victory.
Barack Obama won the 2nd District en route to the presidency in 2008, but the district opted for Mitt Romney in 2012 and Mr. Trump in 2016.
Maine is the only other state in the union that uses a hybrid system to award its electoral votes.
Mr. Pillen needs to call a special legislative session to enact the switch. He supports winner-takes-all but won’t pursue it unless sufficient votes exist for the change.
“I am willing to convene the Legislature for a special session to fix this 30-year-old problem before the 2024 election,” Mr. Pillen said in a formal statement this month. “However, I must receive clear and public indication that 33 senators are willing to vote in such a session to restore winner-take-all.”
The key vote is state Sen. Mike McDonnell of Omaha, a longtime Democrat who switched to the Republican Party in April. The senator has opposed winner-take-all in the past, but Mr. Trump’s allies are trying to persuade him.
“Senator McDonnell has heard compelling arguments from both sides,” McDonnell spokesman Barry Rubin told the Nebraska Examiner on Thursday. “And, as of today, [the senator] is still a no.”
If the governor decides to pursue a change, he must move fast.
Early in-person voting in Nebraska starts Oct. 7, and it may be difficult or bad optics to change the rules after voting begins.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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