The Nebraska Republican who tanked a recent legislative push to give former President Donald Trump an easier path to collecting all five of the state’s electoral votes is supporting an independent senate candidate’s bid whose victory could deny the GOP senate control.
On Oct. 12, Nebraska state senator Mike McDonnell spoke in support of Nebraska independent Senate candidate Dan Osborn while addressing an Osborn campaign rally in Omaha that United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain headlined, according to video footage posted by the Osborn campaign.
McDonnell’s decision to support Republican Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer’s opponent plus his opposition to eliminating the second congressional district’s single electoral vote that President Biden won in 2020 has rankled Nebraska Republicans who are calling McDonnell’s party credentials into doubt.
In April, McDonnell announced his switch to the Republican Party after more than 40 years as a registered Democrat.
“If he was really a Republican, you would think that he would do some things to demonstrate that he’s a Republican Party member,” former Omaha mayor and Nebraska Republican Rep. Hal Daub told the DCNF in an interview. “What are the things you’ve done to prove to people that you’re really a Republican?”
“He ought to have to answer that question,” Daub added.
McDonnell did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the DCNF.
“We have to do the work. Dan has stepped up,” McDonnell told Osborn supporters at the Omaha campaign rally. “He’s done the work for a year. Every day he’s been out there.”
We held 2 back-to-back rallies with UAW President Shawn Fain. The people are ready to break the status quo and to send an independent to the US Senate. pic.twitter.com/q4DV2wzBSb
— Dan Osborn, Independent for Senate (@OsbornForSenate) October 24, 2024
If Osborn were to defeat Fischer in a shocking upset, Senate Republicans would need to net three seats in other states to retake Senate control.
“The Nebraska Senate race is now the closest in the country. Dan Osborn is TIED with Republican Deb Fischer. It’s our best pick up opportunity,” a pro-Osborn fundraising text from a left-wing super PAC sent to Nebraska voters on Oct. 29 said. “Dan is an independent who will caucus with the Democrats.”
A recent New York Times-Siena College poll from Oct. 23-26 found that Osborn trails Fischer by just two points with 5% of likely voters undecided.
Liberal dark money groups are bankrolling Osborn’s independent senate bid and the campaign is also raising money on ActBlue, a fundraising platform dedicated to electing Democratic and left-wing candidates.
McDonnell has also not endorsed the reelection bids of the other four Republican members that make up Nebraska’s federal delegation in addition to Fischer, nor has the state senator expressed support for Trump.
Following McDonnell’s decision to come out against Republican Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen’s planned special session to amend the state’s allocation of electoral votes to winner-take-all, the state senator told ABC News prime anchor Linsey Davis that the legislative effort “did not seem fair” 43 days out from election day.
Nebraska is one of two states that can split its electoral votes — some say this could be the blue dot that would decide the election.
State Sen. Mike McDonnell joins @LinseyDavis with more on the electoral process in his state, as former Pres. Trump pushes to change it. pic.twitter.com/Tobf6Ursis
— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) September 24, 2024
According to Nebraska’s current allocation of electoral college votes, presidential candidates are awarded one electoral vote for each congressional district they win plus two votes for whoever wins the most statewide votes. Only Nebraska’s second congressional district — the “blue dot” — is considered competitive according to the Cook Political Report, which designates the district as “lean Democrat.”
“Thank God for that one guy in Omaha,” Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz said at a campaign event in New York on Oct. 23 following McDonnell’s decision to join with Democratic lawmakers in opposing the change.
McDonnell has instead called on the Nebraska Unicameral to consider legislation to change the state’s electoral vote count system to winner-take-all in next year’s legislative session, in a letter to constituents explaining his decision to oppose winner-take-all legislation before the election.
Former President Trump, all five members of Nebraska’s federal delegation and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina backed the push to change Nebraska’s allocation of electoral votes to winner-takes-all.
“It is past time that Nebraska join 48 other states in embracing winner-take-all in presidential elections,” Nebraska’s federal delegation wrote in a joint letter on Sept. 18. “After all, we are Nebraskans first, not members of Nebraska’s three congressional districts.”
Graham told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Omaha’s “one electoral vote could be the difference between Harris being president and not, and she’s a disaster for Nebraska and the world.”
Some political experts have argued that if Harris were to win every state Biden carried in 2020 except for Georgia, Nevada and Arizona, a Trump loss in Nebraska’s “blue dot” could be the key to preventing a 269-269 Electoral College tie.
“I think his conduct has made a lot of people mad,” Daub told the DCNF in an interview. “Had he indicated to the governor that he would support it, then the blue dot would have been wiped out.”
“It would have been better, and far less expensive, for everyone! Unfortunately, a Democrat turned Republican(?) State Senator named Mike McDonnell decided, for no reason whatsoever, to get in the way of a great Republican, common sense, victory. Just another “Grandstander!,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sept. 23 following McDonnell’s announcement that he would not support winner-take-all legislation. “I LOVE OMAHA, and won it in 2016. Looks like I’ll have to do it again!!!”
A New York Times-Siena College poll from Oct. 28 found Harris is leading Trump by 12 points in the Omaha district.
McDonnell is likely to announce a run for Omaha’s mayor in the coming days against Republican incumbent Jean Stothert who is seeking a fourth term, Daub told the DCNF.
“There isn’t any doubt about it,” Daub told the DCNF, who notes that McDonnell has already hired a campaign manager.
The Osborn campaign did not respond to the DCNF’s inquiry about whether the independent candidate supported the winner-take-all push.
“I think its time has come,” Daub told the DCNF about whether Nebraska’s “blue dot” will survive until the next presidential election cycle. “It’s worn its welcome. The populist idea has worn thin.”
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