GOP lawmakers from Nebraska urge state to flip to winner-take-all electoral system

Republican members of Congress from Nebraska in a Wednesday letter called on their state to apportion all of its five electoral votes to the popular vote winner of the presidential election in the state.

Nebraska, unlike most states, splits its five votes. Two of the votes go to the winner of the popular vote in the state. The other three are linked to the three congressional districts in the state and are given to who wins the popular vote in those districts.

This is a critical factor in his year’s presidential race because a victory by Vice President Harris in the district that covers the Omaha area could help her win the presidency.

If Harris loses Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and Nevada, she could still win the presidency by winning the other states won by President Biden in 2020 — as long as she also wins the single electoral vote from Nebraska’s 2nd District. This would give her exactly 270 electoral votes.

Biden won the district and its electoral vote in 2020.

A survey conducted in mid-August found Harris was ahead of former President Trump in the Cornhusker State’s 2nd Congressional District by 8 points. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), Harris’s running mate, is originally from Nebraska.

“As members of Nebraska’s federal delegation in Congress, we are united in our support for apportioning all five of the Nebraska’s electoral votes in presidential elections according to the winner of the whole state,” the letter, addressed to Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R) and Nebraska Speaker of the Legislature John Arch. “It is past time that Nebraska join 48 other states in embracing winner-take-all in presidential elections.”

The letter features the signatures of Nebraska Reps. Mike Flood (R), Don Bacon (R), Adrian Smith (R) and Sens. Deb Fischer (R) and Pete Ricketts (R). Flood posted the letter to his account on the social platform X on Wednesday.

“We need a President that will represent all of us, from Omaha to Scottsbluff and everywhere in-between,” the Wednesday letter from the Nebraska Republicans read. “Senators and Governors are elected by the state as a whole because they represent all of the people of Nebraska equally, and the state should speak with a united voice in presidential elections as well. After all, we are Nebraskans first, not members of Nebraska’s three congressional districts. Our identity as Nebraskans is what unites us in a common bond.”

Earlier this year, an attempt to switch the Cornhusker State to a “winner-take-all” Electoral College system failed a procedural vote in Nebraska’s unicameral Legislature.

An effort to link the bill to a different measure as an amendment fell through, as state Sen. Julie Slama headed up the amendment push. Only eight of the necessary 23 legislators supported the vote.

“Speaker Arch is not available for comment,” Mandy Mizerski, an Arch assistant, said in an email to The Hill.

The Hill has reached out to Pillen’s office.

Updated at 1:49 p.m. EDT