CNN —
Nebraska Governor Jim Pilen said Tuesday he has “no plans to convene a special convention” to change the way the state allocates its electoral votes to a winner-take-all system, putting an end to an effort led by Donald Trump.
The announcement came after Republican state Sen. Mike McDonnell said he would not support a last-ditch effort to overturn the law that apportions electoral votes based on congressional districts.
“Given everything that is at stake for Nebraska and our nation, we did everything in our power to get this done,” Pillen, a Republican, said in a statement.
“Unfortunately, we were unable to convince 33 state senators, and Sen. Mike McDonnell of Omaha has confirmed that he has no intention of voting for winner-take-all before the 2024 election. This is extremely disappointing to me and many others who have worked diligently to ensure that every Nebraskan’s vote is equally counted in this election. Because we fell short of 33 votes, we will not be calling a special conference on this issue before the 2024 election. I thank the many Nebraskans who have made their voices heard during this process.”
The statement marked the end of a series of attempts by Trump to pressure the state legislature to change Nebraska’s laws before the November vote. The Cornhusker State allocates two electoral votes to the winner of the statewide popular vote and one vote to the winner of the popular vote in each of the state’s three electoral districts. Trump won all five of Nebraska’s electoral votes in 2016 but only four in 2020, when Joe Biden won the Omaha-area seat.
McDonnell told CNN’s Erin Burnett on “OutFront” on Tuesday that he believes it’s too late to change the law before the November election.
“I’m against going back to winner-take-all, but I’m going to let Nebraskans vote. But we’re talking 42 days before the election. That’s not fair,” he said.
McDonnell declined to say whether he had spoken to Trump, but noted the 2nd Congressional District has switched parties over the past few elections and said the system helps “make us more relevant.”
“It gets people to come to the polls, to spend money and to work to vote,” McDonnell added.
The battle for Nebraska’s one electoral vote in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, which has become known as the “Blue Dot of Omaha,” has emerged as a symbol of how close the race between Trump and Kamala Harris has become.
Even if Harris wins the “blue wall” states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, but not any other key battleground states, she will need the electoral votes of Nebraska’s 2nd District to secure the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House.
Trump believes he can secure Nebraska’s four electoral votes but is increasingly nervous about a fifth, leading him and his Republican allies to launch a belated effort to try to change the state’s election laws just weeks before the vote. He called a conference of state senators last week to urge them to change the laws before November.
The state’s Republican governor, Pillen, has said he is open to calling a special session of the Nebraska Legislature before the November election to change the law, but only if there is enough support. An effort earlier this year failed to change the law, which applies only to Nebraska and Maine.
The former president spoke about the fight in a social media post Monday night, saying, “I love Omaha and won in 2016. Looks like we need to win it again!!!”
But Trump and Republicans have poured virtually no money into the district, while Harris’ campaign has spent millions trying to recapture her lone electoral vote, waging grassroots rallies in front of residents across Omaha and erecting yard signs bearing blue dots — a symbol of Democratic hope — amid Nebraska’s solid red.
This story has been updated with additional reports.
CNN’s Piper Hudspeth Blackburn contributed to this report.
