Nebraska State Senator Mike McDonnell to oppose changes to the state's electoral system represents a significant setback for former President Donald Trump and his allies. McDonnell, who has transitioned from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party, stated that he would not support efforts to alter Nebraska's current method of awarding electoral votes, which allocates two votes to the statewide winner and one vote to each congressional district winner . This decision underscores a growing sentiment among some lawmakers that electoral processes should reflect the will of the voters rather than political maneuvering.
Mike McDonnell, a former Democrat who joined the GOP earlier this year, said in a statement Monday that he would not vote to change the law in Nebraska before the November election.
“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 said. “I have notified Governor (Jim) Pillen that I will not change my long-held position and will oppose any attempted changes to our electoral college system before the 2024 election.”
McDonnell was seen as one of the last best hopes from Republicans to change the law before November. He made clear that he had no interest in supporting a change so close to the election.
Though the push among Republicans to change Nebraska’s electoral system is not new, the last-minute renewed effort could have complicated Vice President Harris’s path to 270 electoral votes just weeks before the election.
Harris only won Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, while losing the other battleground states, she would arrive at 269 votes — a situation in which Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District would prove critical on her path to 270.
Yet McDonnell’s decision to reject the last-minute push among Republicans means the party lacks the 33 needed votes to overcome a filibuster on the move.
Late Monday afternoon, Trump thanked Pillen for attempting to "simplify the complexity" of the state's electoral map, while attacking state McDonnell for opposing it, calling him a "Grandstander."
Before Biden dropped out of the race, the Blue Wall and Nebraska's so-called "Blue Dot" was considered his only path to reelection. Harris has made Democrats more competitive in states like North Carolina and Nevada, but polling in those and other swing states shows very little separating the two major candidates.
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