Trump's Election Law Change Hopes Hit a Roadblock

In a significant setback for Donald Trump and his Republican allies, a pivotal Omaha state senator has refused to support a last-ditch effort to change Nebraska's election law. State Sen. Mike McDonnell, a former Democrat who joined the GOP earlier this year, announced that he would not vote to alter the 30-year-old law that awards electoral votes by congressional district rather than statewide winner-take-all. McDonnell's decision comes as a huge blow to Trump's efforts to change the law, which would give him an extra electoral vote in the crucial battleground state. The senator's statement emphasized that he believes Nebraska voters, not politicians, should have the final say on how the state chooses its president. The fight over Nebraska's electoral vote has become a symbol of the tight race between Trump and Kamala Harris. Even if Harris wins the "blue wall" states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, she would still need the electoral vote from Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District to secure the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.

Trump has been increasingly fretting about the fifth electoral vote from Nebraska, which he believes he will lose if the law is not changed. To try and change the law, Trump and his allies have been mounting a late effort to convince state senators to alter the electoral system. In a statement, McDonnell emphasized that he had no interest in supporting a change to the law so close to the election. "Nebraska voters, not politicians of either party, should have the final say on how we pick a President," he said. "I want to thank the voters who reached out to me for engaging in democracy and for showing America who Nebraskans are – fiercely independent, filled with pride about our great city of Omaha, and deeply devoted to the promise of American democracy."

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