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LINCOLN — The Nebraska statehouse could soon feel déjà vu as a Republican lawmaker prioritized a constitutional amendment seeking to alter how Nebraska awards Electoral College votes for president.
State Sen. Fred Meyer of St. Paul prioritized the proposal from State Sen. Myron Dorn of Adams that would let voters decide if the state should change from awarding a single electoral vote to the popular vote winner in each of three congressional districts and two to the statewide winner to awarding all five votes to the statewide winner. That proposal was pushed out from the Legislature’s Government, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee last year. The measure likely lacks the votes to override a filibuster.
Meyer told the Examiner that the Governor’s Office asked him to do it, adding that he is being a “team player.” President Donald Trump and the White House have long pressed Nebraska to change its approach since the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District has started voting for Democrats for president, including for President Joe Biden in 2020 and Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024.
“The [Governor’s Office] thinks it’s directly tied to the amount of funding Nebraska can receive back from Washington, D.C …They at least want to see a good-faith effort,” Meyer said.
Meyer said he doesn’t expect the proposal to pass.
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Some lawmakers are trying to persuade Speaker of the Legislature John Arch of La Vista not to schedule the proposal for floor debate, the Examiner has learned. Arch said he hasn’t yet decided whether to schedule the proposal for floor debate and said he would decide based on how much time is left in the session and the vote count.
Nebraska is one of just two states — Maine is the other — that parcel out some of its electoral votes by congressional district. The district approach, adopted in Nebraska in 1991, has led to Democrats claiming a single electoral vote from the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District three times — in 2008, 2020, and 2024. Republicans have won the rest.
Last year, a proposed state law change to shift Nebraska to winner-take-allfrom State Sen. Loren Lippincott of Central City failed to overcome a promised filibuster. Senators knew for months that the votes weren’t there.
State Sen. Jason Prokop of Lincoln, a Democrat, said it’s a foregone conclusion that this proposal would face a filibuster.
A filibuster needs 33 votes to overcome it. Like the last few times Pillen has attempted to pressure the Legislature to change the state’s system of awarding electoral votes, the votes aren’t there.
State Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston, who was targeted by Trump pressure before the 2024 election, is still a no. He said he knows the governor won’t like it.
Pillen did a full-court press for a winner-take-all ahead of the 2024 presidential election — with President Donald Trump getting personally involved in calling and lobbying lawmakers, but the effort died after former Democratic State Sen. Mike McDonnell of Omaha, who had joined the GOP, opposed the change.
Riepe told the Examiner he thinks “winner-take-all” is an issue for 2028 and isn’t worth bringing up.
He pointed to a nonprofit group currently collecting signatures for a similar proposal via ballot measure for 2026 as another reason it’s not needed. No Democrats or registered nonpartisans in the officially nonpartisan Legislature have expressed support for the change.
Meyer was appointed this year by Pillen after former State Sen. Dan McKeon of Amherst resigned from the Legislature over allegations of workplace misconduct.
