The battle over Nebraska’s “blue dot” continues.
A few days after Governor Jim Pillen suggested he’s still weighing the best way to shift Nebraska’s electoral vote system — potentially giving Republicans a +1 edge in the upcoming November 5th election — South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham paid a visit to America’s heartland to meet with Pillen and State Senators.
KLIN media partner 10/11 Now reports Sen. Graham met with more than a dozen Republican members of Nebraska’s Unicameral at the governor’s mansion Wednesday morning. Multiple state senators confirmed Graham’s visit pertained to the topic of ‘winner-take-all’ in Nebraska.
Nebraska and Maine are the only two states in the country to follow the ‘congressional district method,’ allocating one electoral vote to each congressional district and the remaining votes to the statewide winner, totaling the state’s congressional delegation — 5 total in Nebraska.
Inversely, ‘winner-take-all’ awards all state electoral college votes to the presidential candidate who wins the most votes statewide, as opposed to district-by-district.
Nebraska has dished out individual electoral college votes since 1992, thanks to former Lincoln State Senator DiAnna Schimek. Her motivation for the change was to encourage presidential candidates to campaign in the state. However, all five of the state’s electoral votes continued to go to the Republican candidate until 2008, when NE-02, the proverbial “blue dot,” delivered the first Democratic vote in state history to Barack Obama. This happened for the second time in 2020, when the district went to Joe Biden.
“He wanted us to kind of understand the national picture,” State Sen. Tom Brewer, the head of the Legislature’s Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, told 10/11 Now. “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.”
In his recent statement, Pillen indicated his willingness to convene the Legislature for a special session to push for ‘winner-take-all’ before the 2024 election.
“However, I must receive clear and public indication that 33 senators are willing to vote in such a session to restore winner-take-all. I have been consistent and clear on this issue, and likewise expect members of the Legislature to do the same so that we as leaders are transparent and accountable to Nebraskans,” said Pillen. “I and other conservatives have worked diligently to assess legislative support for WTA in a pre-election special session. At this time, I have not yet received the concrete and public indication that 33 senators would vote for WTA. If that changes, I will enthusiastically call a special session.”
Senators leaving the meeting Wednesday estimate that 30 to 31 votes have been confirmed. Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen was also seen leaving the governor’s mansion after the meeting.
“I do believe that it did move the needle,” State Sen. Loren Lippincott told 10/11 News.
Lippincott lead a legislative effort trying to enact winner-take-all during the 2024 legislative session, it did not succeed.
Nebraska’s republican dominated congressional delegation (Representatives Mike Flood [NE-01], Don Bacon [NE-02], and Adrian Smith [NE-03], and Senators Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts) signed a letter of support for winner-take-all Wednesday, urging Pillen and Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature Senator John Arch of La Vista to push for the change.
“As members of Nebraska’s federal delegation in Congress, we are united in our support for apportioning all five of the Nebraska’s electoral votes in presidential elections according to the winner of the whole state. It is past time that Nebraska join 48 other states in embracing winner-take-all in presidential elections,” wrote the Nebraska delegation in their letter.
As the Nov. 5th General Election draws near (47 days as of the time of this writing), and early voting begins in Nebraska on Oct. 1, senators in support of winner-take-all would like to get a bill to the governor’s desk before then. However, the door is open for legal challenges should such an effort succeed.