Former president Donald Trump spoke by phone this week with a Nebraska state senator as part of a last-minute push to change how the state allocates its electoral votes and block the easiest path Vice President Kamala Harris has to win the White House.
State Sen. Merv Riepe (R) said he spoke briefly by phone with Trump Wednesday in the presence of Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R) during a visit by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who encouraged Republicans in the state’s unicameral legislature to change to a statewide winner-take-all electoral vote system.
“I want the law changed. I’ve made no qualms about it,” said Graham, an ally of Trump, who said he traveled to Nebraska at the request of Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), the former governor. “They were open-minded. I said: ‘Listen, it’s your decision to make. It comes down to one electoral vote. I want you to understand what that one vote would mean.’ ”
Nebraska is one of two states that award some of its electoral votes by congressional district, which has given Democrats a good shot at winning a single vote from the Omaha area, despite the overwhelming statewide Republican lean. With that vote, Harris can secure the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House, as long as she also wins her three strongest battleground states — Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
The change is supported by Trump, all of the state’s U.S. senators and congressmen, Pillen and a majority of the unicameral legislature, according to people involved in the process. But Republicans have not yet been able to convince a supermajority of the legislature — all 33 Republican state senators — which would be needed to override a filibuster to pass the change before the November election. Trump previously pushed for a legislative change in April and was rebuffed by lawmakers.
Graham met Wednesday with Pillen and around two dozen state senators about the proposal, according to Graham and Riepe. Before the hour-long luncheon, Riepe said he met with Graham and Pillen and spoke with Trump by phone for a minute or so.
Trump stressed the importance of making the change and “wasn’t threatening in any way at all,” Riepe said Friday in an interview. “Primarily I think he was saying: ‘Look, this is important to me. I’m interested, and I want you to know that I’m not just taking anybody for granted,’ ” Riepe said.
Pillen’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Three people involved in the process, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations, say they think there are multiple holdouts to the change, which would probably face a political backlash in Omaha, where voters have embraced their outsize role in the presidential election and the financial benefits of presidential advertising and campaign visits that come with it.
“The people of the 2nd district are excited to get out to vote, and they are offended by the prospect of the governor and senators and out-of-state interests taking away the opportunity to have their voice be heard,” state Sen. John Cavanaugh (D) said. “Any politician who takes away their vote to have their voice be heard will feel the repercussions at the ballot box.”
One key holdout vote is state Sen. Mike McDonnell, a former Democratic lawmaker who joined the Republican Party this spring after he was censured by Democrats for his antiabortion views. He has repeatedly said he opposes winner-take-all, but his office has suggested that he has not ruled out changing his mind.
“I’m not supporting winner-take-all,” he said in April when he changed parties. This week, his spokesman Barry Rubin told the Nebraska Examiner: “Sen. McDonnell has heard compelling arguments from both sides. … And, as of today, (he) is still a no.”
McDonnell, a former firefighter who has deep ties to organized labor in the state, is widely considered a possible candidate for mayor in Omaha next year. He attended the larger meeting with Pillen and Graham on Wednesday, but has not spoken with Trump, said a person familiar with the events, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal conversations.
The Harris campaign declined to comment. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the interview, Riepe said he believed every state should award its electoral votes by congressional district. But since there is no movement to do that, he said he backs having Nebraska adopt a winner-take-all policy. He said he told the governor he supports the change and, at Pillen’s request, signed a document pledging to vote for it.
“McDonnell stood up at the luncheon and said — he was very straightforward — and he said, ‘I’m a no vote,’ ” Riepe said.
Riepe drew national attention last year when he cast a crucial vote to block a six-week abortion ban. He later helped pass a 12-week ban. Riepe said he was probably called into Wednesday’s small meeting because of his voting history.
Graham said he talked to the Nebraska lawmakers about the importance of changing their system to ensure Trump gets as many electoral votes as possible because national security is of paramount concern. He described the state lawmakers as open-minded.
“It’s not just about Nebraska,” Graham said. “It’s international consequences.”