‘Makes Us Relevant’: GOP State Sen Says Nebraska Election Law Forces Candidates To ‘Spend’ And ‘Work For The Vote’

Republican Nebraska state Sen. Mike McDonnell said Tuesday on CNN that Nebraska’s current election system pushes candidates to “spend” money and “work” for the vote.

McDonnell announced on Monday he would be the only GOP state senator opposing changes to the state’s system, which currently awards one electoral vote per congressional district won and two votes to the presidential candidate who wins the state. McDonnell praised the system during “Erin Burnett OutFront,” highlighting how both Democratic and Republican candidates have won over the years after CNN’s Erin Burnett pressed him on whether he believes former President Donald Trump could win Omaha, Nebraska.

“Well look at what happened in 2016. That’s what’s special about Nebraska’s second congressional district. In 2016, President Trump won. In 2020, President Biden won, and you go back, President Obama won. We hadn’t had a Democrat win in Nebraska prior to the change of this law back to LBJ in 1964, but it’s actually done what we asked — what we thought it would,” McDonnell said.

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“I wasn’t part of it in 1991, but it makes us relevant. It makes people come and spend dollars and it also makes them work for the vote,” McDonnell continued. “You’ve seen that where, again, President Trump won all five Electoral College votes and then we had President Obama win and President Biden win one vote in 2020.”

Nebraska Republicans had hoped to change the state’s current election system to a winner-take-all style prior to voters hitting the ballot box in November. However, McDonnell suggested to Republican Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen that it be proposed as a constitutional amendment, allowing constituents to vote “once and for all” on the issue, according to the Nebraska Examiner.

Without a change to the state’s election system, Vice President Kamala Harris could lose every Sun Belt state and still lead within the Electoral College by 270 to 268 if she wins the Rust Belt and Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, which includes Omaha. A recent New York Times/Siena College poll shows former President Donald Trump leading the vice president in key Sun Belt states, as he holds five points over Harris in Arizona, two points in North Carolina and four points in Georgia.

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