LINCOLN — The national Republican push to help former President Donald Trump win all five of Nebraska’s Electoral College votes is ramping up again, and this time it might work.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen on Wednesday hosted two dozen state senators at the Governor’s Mansion, along with Secretary of State Bob Evnen, the state’s chief election official.

Several who attended the meeting said some senators who had wavered earlier showed more support now for changing Nebraska to the winner-take-all system of awarding electoral votes this year.

McDonnell, other holdouts eyed

Some saw a shift in State Sen. Mike McDonnell of Omaha, a former Omaha fire union leader who said when he switched from Democrat to Republican earlier this year that he would never support winner-take-all.

Five people attending the meeting confirmed that McDonnell told the group he was looking for a way to get to yes, though he expressed concerns.

Some said Trump was likely to engage McDonnell soon, if he hadn’t done so already. The Trump campaign had no immediate comment on who he might be contacting.

McDonnell responded to a Wednesday call to his cell phone with a text asking if he could call back later. He did not respond to several subsequent text messages seeking comment on the meeting.

Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb said late Wednesday that her party is competing for votes, knocking on doors and visiting with Nebraskans about how to “lower costs.”

“Republicans are bullying legislators,” said Kleeb, who had tried to keep McDonnell in her party. “They do not have the votes, and this is all political theater for Trump.”

State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha said she spoke with McDonnell before this summer’s special session on property tax relief and he assured her that he remained opposed to winner-take-all.

She said she believes McDonnell to be “a man of his word” and “takes him at his word.”

Maine draws a line in the Sandhills: Will match Nebraska on winner-take-all

McDonnell’s vote could prove critical. People whipping votes for Pillen and the Trump campaign have told others they expect the remaining GOP holdouts to join them if McDonnell does.

None was willing to say so by name. Attendees said the public would likely soon hear more about specific holdouts.

Pressure campaign

The Trump campaign and local Republicans plan to use local pressure to persuade holdout senators to support winner-take-all, with Trump and his surrogates engaging selectively.

On Wednesday evening, 1st District U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., tweeted a letter from all five members of Nebraska’s all-GOP congressional delegation supporting a switch to winner-take-all.

The letter says Nebraska should never have split its electoral votes beginning in 1992. It says it is “past time that Nebraska join 48 other states in embracing winner-take-all.”

Nebraska and Maine are the only states that award a single Electoral College vote to the winner in each congressional district, in addition to awarding two votes to the statewide winner.

President Joe Biden won one electoral vote in Nebraska’s Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District in 2020. Trump won all five of the state’s votes in 2016. Mitt Romney won all five in 2012. Former President Barack Obama won a single vote in the 2nd District in 2008.

State senators at Wednesday’s meeting at the Governor’s Mansion heard from Trump ally U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., about the national security and economic stakes if voters don’t return Trump to the White House. 

A national GOP spokeswoman said Graham’s visit shows how seriously Republicans are treating the need for Trump to win Nebraska’s 2nd District. Some have argued it could break a 269-269 Electoral College tie.

The spokeswoman said the Trump campaign and other Republicans have been calling, texting and going door-to-door for months.

Graham visit confirmed

State Sens. Loren Lippincott and Tom Brewer confirmed the meeting and Graham’s visit. 

Both sought to tamp down expectations that the 33 votes needed to overcome a promised filibuster have been secured and said winner-take-all currently lacks the votes.

Lippincott, of Central City, said he was just happy to hear Graham and others discuss the importance of making the change and push back against the idea that it’s too late to change the rules.

Like Trump, he said he was tired of Republicans worrying about what people might think. He said it was time for them to worry more about what happens if Vice President Kamala Harris wins.

“Biden received all the votes in the primary, and they chose a new candidate in the fourth quarter,” he said. “We’re not proposing to do anything illegal or unethical.”

Next steps

Brewer, who represents north-central Nebraska, said the senators do not yet have 33 votes and said he does not see a path yet to having 33 votes. He said his best guess is 30-31 votes, which echoes Lippincott’s count.

“I told them the Government Committee stands ready if they can find the votes, but I think the chances are very remote,” said Brewer, who chairs the committee in charge of election law.

Pillen told the senators that he needs them to show him they have 33 firm commitments from senators to support winner-take-all before he calls a special session.

His office had no immediate comment Wednesday night about where the effort stands. But senators attending the meeting told the Examiner that Pillen said he would prefer to call a session no later than next week.

Some lawyers have argued that the rules governing an election should not be changed after voting begins.  Ballots get sent to Nebraskans abroad starting this week. The first domestic ballots get mailed Sept. 30. Early in-person voting in Nebraska starts Oct. 7.