Effort To Make Nebraska ‘Winner-Take-All’ Electoral State Underway

Efforts to persuade a Republican holdout in Nebraska to support legislation making the state a "winner-take-all" electoral system seem to have hit a roadblock, with only 42 days remaining before the election.

Currently, all but two states award their Electoral College votes based on the popular vote majority. Nebraska and Maine, however, use the congressional district method. This system allocates two electoral votes to the statewide popular vote winner, and one vote to the winner in each congressional district (2 districts in Maine, 3 in Nebraska), according to 270toWin.com.

In 2008, Barack Obama became the first Democrat to win Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, centered around Omaha and its suburbs. Similarly, Donald Trump became the first Republican to win Maine’s 2nd District in 2016. However, with most of Nebraska leaning Republican, GOP leaders and lawmakers have been urging a state senator to change the law to a winner-take-all method of electoral vote distribution.

But as Fox News anchor Bret Baier explained on Tuesday, these efforts have so far been unsuccessful.

“That brings us to the congressional district states. There’s Maine, which traditionally splits, and Nebraska with three districts. Traditionally, around Omaha, that is a Democratic place. One electoral vote goes there. However, there is an effort to try to get Nebraska to be a winner-take-all on its electoral votes,” Baier said during the broadcast.

Baier continued, “It would require the state legislature, specifically the state Senate, to overcome a filibuster. And now, one of those senators, Republican state Sen. Mike McDonald, made a statement today saying, ‘After deep consideration, it is clear to me right now, 43 days from Election Day, that it is not the moment to make this change. I will not change my long-held position and will oppose any attempted changes to our Electoral College system before their 2024 election,’” Baier quoted.

Baier then analyzed the potential impact, “If the system remains unchanged and this scenario played out, Kamala Harris would likely win the electoral vote and reach 270, securing the White House. Trump’s allies, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), continue to push for the winner-take-all method.”

Baier showed a clip from Graham’s appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” where Graham commented: “If they change the law in Nebraska, it won’t be done secretly; it will be through a democratic process. Nebraska’s entire federal delegation—House members and two senators—support this change. To my friends in Nebraska, that one electoral vote could decide whether Harris becomes president or not. And she would be a disaster for Nebraska and the world.”

Earlier this year, Sen. McDonald, a former Democrat, switched his party affiliation to Republican. In an interview with a local news station, he explained that his pro-life stance was the driving force behind his decision.

“When I ran for reelection in 2020, I was pro-life,” McDonald shared with NewsChannel Nebraska. “I asked the Democratic Party to respect my religiously-based pro-life stance. Instead, over the last year, they’ve punished me for being pro-life.”

McDonald further elaborated, “The Douglas County Democrats refused to seat me as a delegate and cut off party resources because of my pro-life views. The state Democratic Party even voted to censure me. For me, being a Christian, a Roman Catholic, and pro-life is more important than being a registered Democrat,” he concluded.

“Today, I am changing my party affiliation to Republican,” McDonald announced.