Nebraska push for winner-take-all will wait in line after property tax relief

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen greets attendees at one of his property tax town halls Friday, May 24, 2024, in Beatrice. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

LINCOLN — Nebraska Republicans who want to change how the state awards its Electoral College votes before the presidential election this fall will have to wait a little longer.

Gov. Jim Pillen’s office confirmed Monday that his written call for this week’s special session will focus on property taxes alone and won’t include winner-take-all.

Pillen spokeswoman Laura Strimple said the governor has not shut the door on perhaps calling a special session later this year to consider awarding all five of Nebraska’s electoral votes to the winner of the presidential popular vote statewide. This year that likely would be former President Donald Trump in this Republican-dominated state.

State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Omaha told Nebraska Public Media on Monday the tax session could last until Labor Day. If so, that would push a winner-take-all special session into September.

Pillen attended GOP convention

The governor visited the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Thursday, the same day Trump spoke. The Trump campaign has made clear that it wants the law changed.

Trump himself called at least one Nebraska state lawmaker last session when the measure was being discussed, the senator told several of his colleagues, although the Trump campaign denied the call being made.

Pillen has said Nebraska should not stand alone with Maine in awarding a single vote for the winner in each congressional district, with the rest going to the statewide winner.

The Nebraska Republican Party has tried for decades to change a 1991 law passed under Democratic Gov. Ben Nelson that allowed one slice of a GOP-leaning state to stay competitive.

2nd District remains closely split

The Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District, despite the 2020 redistricting that swapped parts of suburban Sarpy County for rural Saunders County, remains politically divided.  

In the last four presidential elections, Democratic and GOP candidates have each won the 2nd District twice. Democrats won a vote in 2008 and 2020. Republicans won in 2012 and 2016.

Pillen has told the Examiner he would call a special session on winner-take-all this summer if legislative leaders tell him they have the votes. Thus far, they do not.

State Sen. Loren Lippincott of Central City, who sponsored last year’s winner-take-all proposal, Legislative Bill 764, said Monday he remains short of the 33 votes needed to overcome a promised filibuster.

Several local political observers have said the holdouts could face tremendous pressure from Trump and his campaign supporters as the election nears. Some expect senators to flip.

Time for 2024 changes running out

Time is short. The first early ballots get mailed to overseas Nebraskans at least 45 days before the election, in September, and the first early ballots sent to Nebraska addresses are mailed in October.

Part of the reason for the national attention is because of the possibility of the election ending in a 269-269 tie. In that scenario, a single stray electoral vote could matter.

Speaker of the Legislature John Arch did not immediately return messages seeking comment about winner-take-all discussions in the conservative-led, officially nonpartisan body.

If Nebraska acts, state lawmakers in Democratic-leaning Maine have said they would consider changing to winner-take-all to avoid handing any one candidate an unfair advantage.

Nebraska Democratic Party chair Jane Kleeb has said Republicans are trying to change the rules too close to an election. She has said Trump should compete for 2nd District votes.

Both major party presidential campaigns have built a presence in the 2nd District in recent months, hiring staff and working with volunteers and U.S. House candidates to knock on doors.

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