State Sen. Mike McDonnell stated Republicans pursuing the change ought to go for a referendum.
Nebraska state Sen. Mike McDonnell, a Democrat-turned-Republican, stated he received’t assist switching the state’s electoral vote course of to winner-take-all, denying a crucial vote wanted to implement the change.
“I respect the need of a few of my colleagues to have this dialogue, and I’ve taken time to pay attention rigorously to Nebraskans and nationwide leaders on each side of the difficulty. After deep consideration, it’s clear to me that proper now, 43 days from Election Day, is just not the second to make this transformation.”
McDonnell stated he clarified his stance to Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen. He additionally recommended that the Republicans pursuing the change go for a referendum as a proposed constitutional modification, so voters can resolve the difficulty “as soon as and for all” on the poll.
“Nebraska voters, not politicians of both celebration, ought to have a remaining say on how we decide a president,” he stated.
Nebraska and Maine are the one states that don’t use a winner-take-all system for electoral votes. In Nebraska, two of the 5 electoral votes go to the candidate who wins the statewide well-liked vote, whereas the remaining three are awarded to the winners of every of the state’s three congressional districts.
Whereas Nebraska usually leans Republican, its Second Congressional District—which incorporates Omaha—has often swung Democratic in current presidential elections, notably voting for then-presidential candidates Barack Obama in 2008 and Joe Biden in 2020.
That single electoral vote, also known as the “blue dot,” might be important to Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’s path to successful the White Home this November. In a state of affairs the place Harris wins Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, she may break a 269–269 tie within the Electoral School with the one vote from Nebraska, avoiding the necessity to carry any of the Solar Belt swing states equivalent to Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, or North Carolina.
Nonetheless, with McDonnell sticking to the established order, Republicans are left with no path to breaking the filibuster—until a Democrat or Hunt defects. Up to now, none have publicly supported the change.
Over the previous months, Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump has urged Nebraska lawmakers to push by means of the measure. He hasn’t made an analogous push to vary Maine’s electoral vote system that awarded him one vote in 2020.
“Most Nebraskans have needed to return to this technique for a really very long time, as a result of it’s what 48 different states do. It’s what the founders meant, and it’s proper for Nebraska,” Trump wrote in April on Reality Social.
In Maine, Democrats management each chambers of the state Legislature however fall in need of forming a supermajority within the decrease chamber. It’s unlikely Maine Republicans would assist Democrats dispose of the present electoral school system, which tends to profit Republican presidential candidates.