Just hours after the conservative commentator Charlie Kirk promoted fundamental changes to Nebraska's electoral map, both the state's governor and former President Donald Trump endorsed the plan - which could create a major obstacle for President Joe Biden's path to re-election if passed.
Nebraska is one of just two states that doesn't allocate electoral votes through a winner-takes-all system. Rather, the Cornhusker State gives two of its electoral votes to whomever wins the state's presidential election, while allocating the other three based on which candidate wins in each Congressional district. Nebraska is a reliably red state but Omaha and its suburbs voted blue in 2008 and 2020.
"California would never do this. New York would never do this. And as long as that's the case, neither should we," Kirk posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. "Nebraskans should call their legislators and their governor to demand their state stop pointlessly giving strength to their political enemies."
Many pundits believe that the Omaha suburbs could end up playing a crucial role in November - particularly if Biden loses in Arizona, Georgia and Nevada. State Senator Loren Lippincott first introduced legislation promoting a winner-takes-all system more than a year ago but it remains in committee.
Shortly after Kirk's post, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen released a statement saying that he was "a strong supporter" of the proposed legislation. Trump backed Pillin's comments, describing them as "very smart" in a post on Truth Social.
In spite of the high profile endorsements, Nebraska Democrats remain confident that the bill will not pass before the end of the legislative session in mid-April. In spite of Kirk's claims that blue states would not split electoral votes, there actually is a Democratic analogue. Maine also splits its electoral votes but could theoretically consolidate them in response to Nebraska altering its map.
"The Nebraska Democratic Party is watching this bill closely and still believes we have the votes to stop the Republicans from removing a fair electoral system that represents voters," Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb told Semafor.
"The only reason Gov. Pillen sent a release today is, the extremist Charlie Kirk sent a tweet that, of course, our governor jumped up to respond to."
