LINCOLN — Nebraska State Sen. Mike McDonnell, a four-decade Democrat and longtime leader of the Omaha fire union, became a Republican in April after Democrats censured him for supporting a stricter abortion ban and health care limits on trans minors.

While announcing the switch, McDonnell said he opposed changing Nebraska’s presidential election process. He said he preferred the status quo, awarding a single Electoral College vote to the winner of the popular vote in each congressional district.

Nebraska and Maine are the only states that award a single Electoral College vote to the winner in each congressional district, plus sending two votes to the statewide winner of the presidential popular vote.

However, both in April and last week, Republicans privately suggested that McDonnell signaled he might be open to changing his position.” Many said McDonnell and others around him had hinted that support for his possible run for mayor of Omaha might help persuade him to support “winner-take-all.”

McDonnell, in an interview Tuesday with the Examiner, denied that his position on the Electoral College issue was tied in any way to his mayoral ambitions. He said he has supported letting people vote on winner-take-all since 2017.

Changing The Rules In Middle Of Game

McDonnell, explaining the decision on winner-take-all that he announced Monday, said he was more troubled by the timing of the proposed change than by the change itself. He said it felt like changing the rules of the game with two minutes left.

“We call a timeout, go over and talk to the refs and say, ‘Hey, we know the value of a field goal is 3, but we’re going to need it to be 4 here,’” McDonnell said. “It just doesn’t seem fair. … It’s not the Nebraska way.”

He said any substantial change in how presidential votes count should occur during a midterm election. That timing would help competing candidates know the rules before the campaign starts and plan their strategies and investments accordingly.

He also said he personally supports keeping the current system in place because of the economic and political impact of bringing swing-district-level presidential attention to Nebraska’s Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District, as candidates vie for what has been dubbed the blue dot.

“There should be 435 congressional districts handling it the way we handle it,” McDonnell said of Nebraska’s approach. “But it’s more about the green dot for Omaha. It gives us relevancy, the economy, we’ve been told a $50 million economic impact.”

Much like in late March and early April, McDonnell has spent six days in the national spotlight, this time at the center of a national push by Republicans to create another potential path to the presidency through Nebraska for former President Donald Trump.

Urgency Wrapped In Close Race

Part of the GOP urgency is wrapped in national polling indicating a close race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee. Some political observers have argued the 2nd District could break a 269-269 Electoral College tie.

Nebraska has split off votes twice in four presidential races. President Joe Biden won the 2nd District in 2020. Former President Barack Obama did the same in 2008. Trump won all five electoral votes in 2016. Mitt Romney did the same in 2012.

McDonnell acknowledged listening with an open mind to critics of the current system. He said he has always engaged with opponents during his eight years as a state senator. He would not say whether he spoke to Trump about the issue.

He suggested that other GOP senators attending a Sept. 18 meeting at the Governor’s Mansion may have misinterpreted his willingness to discuss the issue as a change in position. Republicans said they heard him correctly when he said he wanted to get to ‘yes’ about winner-take-all.

“My position hasn’t changed,” he said Tuesday. “That was my goal…, to say, ‘I’m a no. Please tell me how you got to yes. You know … educate me. Teach me something I don’t know.… I’ve been consistent … and you’re always willing to listen.”

Some Saw McDonnell Opening

National Republicans and Democrats clearly saw the potential for McDonnell to move on the issue. The campaigns of Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have monitored, met and engaged local politicians and political operatives for weeks.

 Nebraska Republican Party chairman Eric Underwood speaks during a Turning Point Action event with Charlie Kirk in Omaha in April 2024. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)

Political observers found it noteworthy that Trump, Gov. Jim Pillen and Nebraska Democratic Party chair Jane Kleeb did not attack McDonnell after he made his Monday statement. It hints that he now has political value to both sides.

Trump was unusually restrained, labeling McDonnell on social media a “Democrat turned Republican(?)” — which Trump is as well. He called McDonnell a “Grandstander!” He also hinted that he might support McDonnell’s opponent for mayor.

Pillen on Tuesday acknowledged what the nation learned Monday, that McDonnell saying no to winner-take-all left the governor no path to changing the state’s approach in time for the 2024 election.

The governor’s statement expressed frustration that he couldn’t secure the 33 votes needed to break a promised filibuster. The Legislature has 33 Republicans, 15 Democrats and one progressive nonpartisan. People whipping votes told others they expected any remaining GOP holdouts to join them if McDonnell did.

“My team and I have worked relentlessly to secure a filibuster-proof 33-vote majority to get winner-take-all passed before the November election,” Pillen said in the statement. “Unfortunately, we could not persuade 33 state senators.”

Partisan Reactions

Local Republicans have argued for years that the state should join the 48 others that use winner-take-all. The GOP holds a 2-to-1 voter registration advantage over Democrats statewide.

The Nebraska Republican Party said in a statement that it supports winner-take-all for more than the GOP presidential nominee. It argued the change would “protect Nebraska from dark money coming into Nebraska influencing elections and policy.”

“It is clear that the voice of the people has fallen on deaf ears,” Nebraska GOP Chair Eric Underwood said in the statement, arguing that elected leaders had defied the will of rank-and-file Republicans.

Nebraska Democrats have argued that Republicans are simply scared of competing for votes in the Omaha area, where their ideas and candidates are less popular. Both presidential campaigns have had a presence in the 2nd District for months.

Kleeb on Monday praised McDonnell for withstanding the pressure. She hinted that Democrats might be open to considering helping McDonnell if he advances in a nonpartisan mayoral primary and faces Republican Mayor Jean Stothert. Democratic candidate John Ewing is also running. Stothert supports winner-take-all, while Ewing opposes it.

McDonnell laughed when asked if he is now a man on an island after touching the third-rails of politics in two political parties — supporting abortion restrictions for Democrats and opposing winner-take-all against Trump for Republicans.

“I possibly could be the first state senator censured by two different political parties in six months,” McDonnell said.

He said he is getting some threatening messages from people, much like he did after the abortion debate last  spring. He said people have been passionate about both winner-take-all and the current system, but said the level of pressure is nothing unexpected.

He said he has no plans to leave the Republican Party. He said 90% of people on all sides have been civil and professional about his decision, partly because he telegraphed where he stood when he became a Republican.

In the end, however, he said he hopes people understand that he did what he thinks is best and that people in the 2nd District “want to be heard, and we want to be listened to.”

This story was published by Nebraska Examiner, an editorially independent newsroom providing a hard-hitting, daily flow of news. Read the original article: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/09/24/mcdonnell-says-his-position-on-w...