Gov. Pillen will not hold ‘winner-take-all’ special session

LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) - Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen announced Tuesday that he will not seek a special session to change Nebraska’s electoral vote distribution to “winner-take-all.”

Pillen’s decision comes after State Sen. Mike McDonnell announced he would not vote for winner-take-all before the 2024 election.

This is likely the last consequential decision Mike McDonnell makes as a State Senator, as he has been term-limited. His 8 years in office end in January.

Months ago, the lifelong Democrat and longtime firefighter switched parties after the state Democratic party censured him for voting alongside Republicans when it came to abortion restrictions.

“I hope I’m not the 1st state senator ever to be censured by 2 different political parties in a 6-month period,” Sen. McDonnell said. “I’ve been consistent since 2017 when we had this discussion when I was first elected.”

Political experts say that without the split electoral votes, the candidates would have no reason to visit. Estimates put the political spending here at around $50 million.

“People are going to talk about the blue dot here, the red dot potentially in Maine,” McDonnell said. “Sometimes it’s the ‘green dot’ because it does help the economy in Omaha and makes us relevant and makes people work for our vote.”

Nebraska votes red in presidential elections.

However, in congressional district two, which includes Omaha, registrations between Republicans, Democrats, and Independents is fairly even.

Sen. McDonnell believes that if anyone is going to change, the 48 other states should drop winner-take-all, and follow Nebraska.

“This idea of changing it with 42 days before the election -- it’s like late in a football game, you call timeout and you want to change the value of the field goal from 3 points to 4 points,” Sen. McDonnell said. “That’s not the Nebraska way. Some people think Nebraska nice means we’re weak. It’s not. We work extremely hard and play by the rules.”

6 News asked Sen. McDonnell if former President Trump called him personally. He said he doesn’t talk about private calls.

McDonnell did, however, admit that he received a lot of calls from people not stored in his contacts list.

In terms of his political future, McDonnell is considering a run for Omaha Mayor. That decision will come after the election.

Nebraska Republicans have been pushing the “winner-take-all” initiative for years. Pillen first mentioned calling the special session in June of this year.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham visited Nebraska last week in support of the system. A letter was sent by Nebraska’s Congressional Delegation in support of changing the format of Nebraska’s electoral system.

“We’ve been talking about it since 2017, and if you look at my position - it’s been a No, and I made it clear for the these reasons,” Sen. McDonnell said. “I believe it makes Omaha relevant in a presidential election. It brings dollars into our city - we’re talking about potentially a $50 million economic impact this round, and also it makes you – you’ve got to work for it. You’ve got to work for our vote. You know, in 2016, President Trump won. In 2020, President Biden won. Come in and work for the vote, and I think the people of Omaha will listen. We should be doing this in all 435 congressional districts.”

Presidential candidate Donald Trump posted a response to McDonnell’s vote on his platform, Truth Social, late Monday. He called out McDonnell, as well as the other Republicans that voted against the initiative.

Read Gov. Pillen’s full statement

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