Nebraska effort to revive winner-take-all might be lost for 2024 presidential race

LINCOLN — Wednesday’s failed attempt to force a floor vote on making Nebraska award all five of its Electoral College votes to the presidential winner of the statewide popular vote signaled dimming prospects this year for changes sought by Gov. Jim Pillen and former President Donald Trump.

State Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar forced discussion on winner-take-all Wednesday by trying to amend it onto LB 1300, an unrelated bill by State Sen. Eliot Bostar of Lincoln that included bipartisan proposals from the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee. 

She contended that many of her Republican colleagues did not really want to vote on the winner-take-all language from Legislative Bill 764. She said they instead wanted to energize voters and donors with the issue. She said they wanted to “talk the talk” but not “walk the walk.”

Germaneness argument

Bostar challenged the germaneness of her amendment, with support from Republicans and Democrats who had bills in the package, including several who noted that the winner-take-all bill had not advanced from committee and had not been labeled a senator’s priority bill.

Bostar told senators that attaching Slama’s amendment to his bill would kill LB 1300. Democrats have pledged to filibuster winner-take-all amendments. Some opponents of changing how Nebraska handles electoral votes pledged to pursue a ballot initiative this year if it passes.

Republican State Sen. Brad von Gillern, serving as president of the Legislature at the time, ruled that Slama’s amendment did not fit with the rest of the bill. Slama sought to overrule von Gillern’s decision, arguing that the Legislature can make “germaneness” mean whatever senators want it to mean, if they have the votes. She said the Legislature had not always seriously enforced the rule limiting bills to a single subject.

“If you want winner-take-all in Nebraska, this is it,” she said. “This is the last train out of the station.… Odds are this is the best chance we will have in several years (to come).”

Her attempt to overrule the chair fell 36-9, which stripped her amendment from the bill.

Why they sought change

Pillen’s office had no immediate comment. Several lawmakers said privately that momentum for the proposal seemed to be slipping. Trump’s last social media post on the matter came Tuesday, when he supported Pillen’s last-minute push.

The Nebraska GOP and other conservatives have long sought the change, pointing to wins by Democratic Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden in the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District. Trump won the 2nd District in 2016 but lost it in 2020.

This year’s sponsor of winner-take-all legislation, State Sen. Loren Lippincott of Central City, said he intends to try again Thursday by amending his proposal into LB 541. That bill by State Sen. John Lowe of Kearney would make elections for public power boards partisan. They are currently nonpartisan.

Lippincott said he had surveyed more senators by late into the evening and said winner-take-all could face a tougher path to get to 33 votes than the proposal’s actual level of support in the Legislature. A bill needs 33 votes to overcome a filibuster.

He said some senators would rather wait until after the election year.

Arch could schedule other bill

Arch said since LB 541 is on second reading, or select file, he would schedule the bill if Lowe tells him it is ready and asks him to do so.  Lowe, who said he was willing to work with Lippincott, said he was still hunting for a 33rd vote for his own proposal. 

Slama said LB 541 already has seven amendments filed against it and “a bunch of procedural motions attached,” signaling opposition to using that as a vehicle for winner-take-all.

Other potential options might be limited by unfriendly amendments, too, including the possibility of adding the proposal to State Sen. Tom Brewer’s broader election cleanup bill, LB 287.

“The Legislature decided tonight that petty infighting and procedural questions were more important than switching Nebraska to a winner-take-all system,” Slama said.

Argument for keeping system as-is

One of the senators opposing the change, State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha, said Nebraskans should not let Trump influence them into making the change.

“This is about a tweet,” she said. “We are allowing ourselves to be governed by a tweet.”

She said the state’s split electoral vote allows more people to have their voices heard in the process, especially in the Omaha area. 

Cavanaugh, a Democrat, stopped her filibuster long enough to hold the procedural vote, saying she was taking a leap of faith by trusting her Republican colleagues to do the right thing. 

State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha said the current system of awarding electoral votes by congressional district is “amazing” and “special” and should be preserved.

“It makes sure we have a more nuanced reflection of our state’s diversity,” she said.