The Nebraska Legislature on Wednesday voted against a proposal that would have changed the state’s allocation of presidential electors in the Electoral College, which is a setback for former President Donald Trump’s political interests. Unlike all U.S. states except for Maine, Nebraska three of its presidential electors based on the majority vote in each of its three congressional districts, while the remaining two electors — accounting for its two U.S. senators — are allocated based on the statewide tally.
Republican state Sen. Julie Slama of Lincoln on Wednesday introduced a that would change this system to a “winner-take-all” allocation — whereby all electoral votes would go to the candidate who wins statewide, purportedly benefitting the Republican nominee — though the measure failed to advance by a vote of . “[T]he “filibuster-proof” majority doesn’t have the intestinal fortitude to make Nebraska a Winner-Take-All state in an
election year. “Wild,” Slama on X, formerly known as
Twitter, after the vote failed. A to the same effect had been by Republican Gov. Jim Pillen of Nebraska and his , now-Sen. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, but has not yet advanced and is unlikely to pass, given that Nebraska’s legislative session for 2024 will conclude soon. by on Scribd Slama had an existing bill on an unrelated matter with her substitute text, which was ruled by the chair to be “not germane” to the issue. Slama then moved to overrule the chair, with the motion being defeated. Nebraska, with a Cook Partisan Voting Index (PVI) score of , has frequently voted, statewide, for the Republican nominee in presidential
elections. However, because of its hybrid allocation system, the
Democratic nominee has sometimes been able to earn one electoral vote from the state due to the 2nd Congressional District, which
Joe Biden in 2020. Trump had the effort to move to a “winner-take-all” system, which was advocated by conservative activists such as Turning Point
USA founder Charlie Kirk. “This gives
Donald Trump a much bigger and better chance [of a] path to the presidency. It’s a no-brainer,” Kirk podcast host Steve Bannon on “The War Room” ahead of the vote. “The Nebraska Legislature answers to the voters of Nebraska, not Charlie Kirk or Donald Trump,” Democratic state Sen. John Frederickson of Omaha on X. “Tonight’s vote to protect our electoral college system in Nebraska is a win for the power of the people in this state.” The
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