Nebraska GOP Gov. Jim Pillen said he won’t call a special session before the November election to change how the state allocates electoral votes to a winner-take-all system — a move that would have helped former President Donald Trump.
Pillen made the announcement after Republican state Sen. Mike McDonnell said he would not support the effort that would award all five of the state’s electoral votes to the candidate who wins the state. Currently, three of the state’s votes go to the candidate who wins each of its three congressional districts and the other two go to the statewide winner of the popular vote.
Pillen said, Tuesday, “Given everything at stake for Nebraska and our country, we have left every inch on the field to get this done.” He added, “Unfortunately, we could not persuade 33 state senators. Senator Mike McDonnell of Omaha has confirmed he is unwilling to vote for winner-take-all before the 2024 election.
“That is profoundly disappointing to me and the many others who have worked so earnestly to ensure all Nebraskans’ votes are sought after equally this election,” Pillen said, adding, “I am grateful to the many Nebraskans who made their voices heard during this process.”
Trump won all five of Nebraska’s electoral votes in 2016, but in 2020, he won only four, with Joe Biden carrying the Omaha-area seat.
Trump believes he’ll again win four electoral votes in Nebraska, but the fifth one may prove more elusive. He and his Republican allies in the state have been trying to change the state’s election laws with less than two months to go until the first ballots are cast.
Kate McManus ✉
Kate McManus is a New Jersey-based Newsmax writer who's spent more than two decades as a journalist.
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