The debate over how Nebraska awards its electoral votes will move the floor of the Legislature.
The Government, Military and Veterans Affairs committee voted 5-3 to move two bills that return Nebraska back to a winner-take-all system to the floor of the Legislature during an executive session meeting Monday, which are closed to the public but open to the media.
All five Republicans on the committee voted the bill out of committee while the three senators representing districts in Omaha voted no.
Legislative Bill 3, introduced by Sen. Loren Lippincott of Central City at the request of Gov. Jim Pillen, and Legislative Resolution 24CA, introduced by Sen. Myron Dorn of Adams both would make it so Nebraska awards all five of its electoral votes for president to whomever wins the popular vote. LR24CA, if passed, would ask voters to enshrine winner-take-all into the state constitution in the 2026 election.
Sanders, who chairs the committee, said she decided to support moving the bills out of committee because Lippincott made it his priority bill and the committee received hundreds of comments for and against the bill.
"The debate, I think, belongs on the floor," she told reporters after the committee meeting.
Pillen released a statement after the committee moved LB3 to the floor and called it “great news for Nebraska.” The governor posted to X last week that winner-take-all is a priority for him as well as President Donald Trump.
Since 1992, Nebraska awards two of its electoral votes to the presidential candidate that receives the most votes statewide and divides the remaining three votes to the winners of each congressional district.
Nebraska split its votes three times. The 2nd Congressional District, centered around Omaha, also known as ‘the blue dot,’ cast its vote for Democratic candidates Barack Obama in 2008, Joe Biden in 2020 and Kamala Harris in 2024, while the rest of the state’s electoral votes went to the Republican nominee.
Maine, the only other state that splits its votes, said it would likely move to winner-take-all if Nebraska does.
At the bills over five hour public hearing in January, Lippincott said that a winner-take-all system, just like the Electoral College, prevents power concentration in population centers. He also said splitting votes by congressional districts divides the state and creates an "us versus them" mentality, suggesting a winner-take-all system would unify the state.
Those against winner-take-all in Nebraska said at the public hearing that it would mute votes.
“Let's be brutally honest, if LB3 passes, there's absolutely no reason for a non-Republican voter to vote in a presidential election, probably for decades,” Ron Cunningham, a former Republican who registered as nonpartisan in 2015 said. “It will be one of the great thefts in Nebraska political history.”
Warren Phelps, chairman of the Cheyenne County Republican Party, warned his fellow Republicans at the hearing that separating votes by congressional districts provides better representation. Phelps said he believes the winner-take-all system will help Democrats in future elections as Omaha and Lincoln’s populations grow while the rural population shrinks.
"As long as the 3rd District of Nebraska has that electoral vote, we have a chip in the game,” he said. I'm sure the Democrats in Omaha feel the same way. If the Republican candidate for president cannot convince 15,000 or 16,000 more voters in Omaha to vote for them, they don't deserve that electoral vote.”
LB3 would likely need the support of all 33 Republicans lawmakers to overcome an expected filibuster to pass on the floor, however a few of them signaled they may not support it.
Sen. Dave Wordekemper of Fremont voted to pass LB3 from the committee to the floor but said during the executive session that his vote doesn’t necessary mean he supports winner-take-all, but wants to allow the entire Legislature to debate on it and would prefer LR24CA since it would be up to voters to decide.
Sens. Rita Sanders of Bellevue, Bob Anderson of Papillion, Dan Lonowski of Hastings, Dan McKeon of Amherst and Dave Wordekemper of Fremont voted to pass both bills to the floor while Omaha Sens John Cavanaugh, Dunixi Guereca and Megan Hunt voted no.