'Not The Moment': Key State Senator Torpedoes Republican Hopes To Revamp Electoral System In Nebraska

On Wednesday, Nebraska State Senator Mike McDonnell (R), a former Omaha-based Democrat who left the party earlier this year, rejected efforts by the state's Republicans to revert to a winner-take-all Electoral College system rather than the current system that allocates electors via the popular vote and congressional districts.

"Elections should be an opportunity for all voters to be heard, no matter who they are, where they live, or what party they support," McDonnell said in a statement. "I have taken time to listen carefully to Nebraskans and national leaders on both sides of the issue. After deep consideration, it is clear to me that right now, 43 days from Election Day, is not the moment to make this change." McDonnell recommended to Gov. Jim Pillen (R-NE) that the winner-take-all system be put up for a vote by the people, rather than being changed by the unicameral legislature.

The statement from McDonnell comes after Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) traveled to Nebraska to try to convince Republican legislators to take action. The South Carolina senator's visit comes after Gov. Pillen explained that he would call a special session to take up a winner-take-all bill only if there were enough votes to pass.

So far, Republicans in the Cornhusker state believe they are only two to three votes short of a majority in the unicameral legislature to pass the legislation, making McDonnell's announcement a major blow to their efforts. "Depending on how the count comes up, it may very well decide who the next president United States is going be. And [Graham] just wanted us to understand the big picture, that this is a national issue, not just in Nebraska," State Sen. Tom Brewer (R), the chairman of the Legislature's Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, explained, as previously reported by the DC Enquirer. 

With early voting beginning on October 1 and the election less than two months away, Republicans are running out of time to change the way they allocate electoral votes. Lawmakers have insisted that they would like to see the bill signed by the governor before early voting begins, but the legislation could go into effect up until November 5. "The things that were discussed by the governor and also [Graham] were just the costs involved in having an extension of the Joe Biden and Kamala Harris administration," said State Sen. Loren Lippincott (R). "It was the underlying principles that are at stake here, not necessarily the personality of the candidates, but instead the ideas as to what is at risk."

If the governor calls a special session and lawmakers pass the bill, Harris' path to reelection narrows dramatically. Under the current system, Democrats would only have to win the swing states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan in addition to Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District. However, if the Cornhusker State decides to revert to a winner-take-all system, Harris would have to win an additional state - Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, or North Carolina - to win the presidency without the electoral college vote being tied. In a tie scenario where each candidate receives 269 electoral votes, the House of Representatives, via each state's delegation, votes to decide who will be the next president.

Nebraska, which is only joined by Maine in assigning electoral votes by congressional district, instituted its split vote system in 1991. Barack Obama was the first Democrat to win an electoral vote from the state in 2008. Biden replicated that feat in 2020. The current system allocates two electoral votes to the winner of the state's popular vote and one electoral vote each for each of its three congressional districts.

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