The late GOP push to deny Kamala Harris a Nebraska electoral vote | Semafor

The late GOP push to deny Kamala Harris a Nebraska electoral vote | Semafor

September 19, 2024

The Trump campaign is making a last-ditch plea to Nebraska Republicans to change how their state awards electoral votes, switching to a winner-take-all system to deny Democrats a possible vote from the 2nd Congressional District.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham met with Republican senators in Lincoln on Wednesday, telling Semafor that Gov. Jim Pillen and Sen. Pete Ricketts invited him to talk about the campaign’s strategy. It’s a sign that Republicans are sweating every single electoral vote now that Vice President Kamala Harris is the Democratic nominee.

Both Pillen and Ricketts, himself a former governor, have endorsed the idea of eliminating the state’s electoral vote split, which has been in place since 1992; in 2008 and 2020, the Democratic presidential nominee carried the Omaha-based 2nd district. The meeting was first reported by Nebraska’s 1011 Now.

“I hope they move forward, because it could come down to a single electoral vote,” Graham said after the meeting. “The Harris campaign wouldn’t spend 15 cents in Nebraska if it weren’t for this district. The entire federal delegation supports the change, because that one district is always going to be focused on the presidential politics.”

Nebraska Republicans have held the governor’s mansion and state legislature since 1999, and occasionally debated whether to return to winner-take-all. Earlier this year, before the regular legislative session ended, conservative activists led by Turning Point Action urged the party to act, and Trump himself endorsed the idea.

But Republicans didn’t get the 33 votes needed to advance it, and when Graham left the state, they were stuck at 30 or 31. Democrats were confident that the push would fall short.

“Republicans do not have the votes to change our fair electoral vote system, and this is all political theater they’re doing to keep Trump happy,” said Jane Kleeb, the chair of Nebraska’s Democratic Party.