{"id":2251894,"date":"2024-05-24T06:00:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-24T10:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nebraska-electoral-college-vote-a-key-brick-in-bidens-needed-blue-wall\/"},"modified":"2024-05-24T06:04:14","modified_gmt":"2024-05-24T10:04:14","slug":"nebraska-electoral-college-vote-a-key-brick-in-bidens-needed-blue-wall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nebraska-electoral-college-vote-a-key-brick-in-bidens-needed-blue-wall\/","title":{"rendered":"Nebraska&#8217;s Electoral College vote crucial for Biden&#8217;s blue wall"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnebraska-electoral-college-vote-a-key-brick-in-bidens-needed-blue-wall%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2251894&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The road to President Joe Biden&#8217;s\u200d reelection bid passes through deep-red Nebraska, \u2063where an\u200b Electoral\u2062 College tie looms. To secure victory, Biden must clinch \u200cthe Omaha congressional district \u2063and navigate\u200c a complex Electoral College landscape \u200creshaped by\u200b recent apportionment changes. Nebraska&#8217;s unique proportional electors emerge as\u2062 a crucial battleground, highlighting the intricate dynamics \u200bof the upcoming election.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>OMAHA, Nebraska<\/strong> <strong>\u2014<\/strong> The road to President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Joe Biden<\/a>\u2019s reelection bid runs through \u2026 deep-red <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/nebraska\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Nebraska<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p>It may sound strange, considering the Midwestern state last backed a Democratic presidential candidate in 1964. And former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Donald Trump<\/a> in 2020, losing the White House to Biden, still romped to victory in the Cornhusker State 59% to 39%.<\/p>\n<p>Yet a confluence of Electoral College math oddities and Nebraska\u2019s status as a rare state where the winner doesn\u2019t necessarily take all in presidential elections means Biden has to win in a greater Omaha congressional district to avoid a first-ever Electoral College tie at 269-269.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a plausible scenario if Biden does well but not spectacularly in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mark-zuckerberg-hit-with-lawsuit-alleging-malfeasance-related-to-influencing-2020-election\/\" title=\"Mark Zuckerberg Hit With Lawsuit Alleging Malfeasance Related to Influencing 2020 Election\">winning key swing states<\/a>. Specifically, if he wins Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, the vaunted \u201cblue wall\u201d trio that went Democratic six straight times from 1992 to 2012, but loses other swing states like Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and North Carolina, he and Trump would end up tied at 269 electoral votes apiece. The race would be decided by the House of Representatives in a contingent election.<\/p>\n<p>This is a shift in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/electoral-college\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Electoral College<\/a> math from even four years ago. Back then, winning the three \u201cblue wall\u201d states would have been enough to give Biden a second term.<\/p>\n<p>What changed? Reapportionment among states over how many congressional districts each gets. And that affects where votes lie in the Electoral College.<\/p>\n<p>After the 2020 census, due to population growth, Texas gained two House seats. <a href=\"https:\/\/www2.census.gov\/programs-surveys\/decennial\/2020\/data\/apportionment\/apportionment-2020-map01.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Gaining one House seat<\/a> were Colorado, Florida, Montana, Oregon, and North Carolina. Other states grew slowly over the decade leading up to the 2020 national population count or, in some cases, outright lost population. So, losing one House seat each were California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.<\/p>\n<p>The House seat and, by extension, Electoral College gains largely went to states that backed Trump over Biden, and losses were heavier in blue areas. Without a single 2024 general election vote cast yet, Biden\u2019s 306-232 win over Trump is reduced by three, to 303-235.<\/p>\n<h2>Nebraska\u2019s proportional electors<\/h2>\n<p>The dicier Electoral College math for Biden now is forcing his campaign to look at Nebraska as a possible tiebreaker since Nebraska is one of two states, along with Maine, to allocate its electors proportionally. Nebraska doles out two of its five <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nebraska-dems-look-to-turn-local-wins-into-split-electoral-college-vote-in-2024\/\" title=\"Nebraska Democrats aim to secure a split Electoral College vote in 2024 through local victories.\">electoral votes based<\/a> on the statewide winner \u2014 sure to be Trump again. But who the other three go to depends on which presidential candidate wins those congressional districts.<\/p>\n<p>Two Nebraska House seats are safely Republican. But the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District is very much in play. In fact, Biden in 2020 won the district 52.2% to 46.8% \u2014 and that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-worry-third-party-candidate-will-hand-2024-election-to-republicans\/\" title=\"Dems fear third-party candidate may give 2024 win to GOP.\">single electoral vote<\/a>. This had happened once before, in 2008, when Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama (with Biden as his running mate) won the 2nd Congressional District.<\/p>\n<p>The single Nebraska seat that\u2019s winnable for Team Biden is on its political radar. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, visited Omaha on March 19. Emhoff talked up Biden\u2019s record and said things were \u201cterrible\u201d during Trump\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have to win,\u201d he told attendees at an Omaha campaign rally. \u201cWe have no choice if you care about this country, you care about freedom, and you care about democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But some Republicans and MAGAworld figures have also taken notice of the possible make-or-break status of Nebraska\u2019s electoral votes for the presidential campaign. Gov. Jim Pillen (R-NE) recently called on state legislators to take steps that would implement a winner-take-all system. Republicans, in control of Nebraska\u2019s unicameral legislature, rejected that proposal during the spring legislative session.<\/p>\n<p>Pillen has said he could call state lawmakers back into a special legislative session if there are enough votes to change the electoral system.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI look forward to partnering with legislative leaders to [move] it forward in a special session, when there is sufficient support in the Legislature to pass it,\u201d Pillen <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TeamPillen\/status\/1777882509503525175\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>posted<\/a> on X on April 10. \u201cI will sign [winner-take-all] into law the moment the Legislature gets it to my desk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also a matter MAGA activist Charlie Kirk has emphasized on his podcast, even traveling to Nebraska to hold an April 9 rally aimed at pressuring GOP lawmakers.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Charlie Kirk speaks at an April 9 rally in Omaha, Nebraska, calling on the state\u2019s shift to a winner-take-all electoral vote method before November\u2019s presidential election. (AP Photo\/Margery Beck)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cNebraska could pick a president,\u201d Kirk <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TPAction_\/status\/1777869213161648411\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said at the rally<\/a>. \u201cYou better believe that that message is being heard in the Capitol.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Though Democrats do have a political insurance policy of their own, halfway across the country in Maine. The Pine Tree State in presidential elections is safely Democratic statewide. Yet one of its two House districts tends to go the other way. Trump won the sprawling northern Maine 2nd Congressional District in 2016 and 2020.<\/p>\n<p>In Maine\u2019s capital of Augusta, Democrats have full control of state government, holding the governorship and both chambers of the legislature. If Nebraska changes its Electoral College rules to winner-take-all to help Trump, Maine will try to do the same to counteract that impact, Maine\u2019s state House majority leader <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/awprokop\/status\/1783853366621196495\/photo\/1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>said in an April 26 statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVoters in Maine and voters in Maine\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/storm-the-capitol-msnbcs-chris-hayes-mocks-gop-2022-congressional-candidates\/\" title=\"\u2018Storm The Capitol\u2019: MSNBC\u2019s Chris Hayes Mocks GOP 2022 Congressional Candidates\">2nd congressional district<\/a> value their independence, but they also value fairness and playing by the rules,\u201d Democratic state Rep. Maureen Terry said. \u201cIf Nebraska\u2019s Republican governor and Republican-controlled Legislature were to change their electoral system this late in the cycle to unfairly award Donald Trump an additional electoral vote, I think the Maine Legislature would be compelled to act in order to restore fairness to our country\u2019s electoral system. It is my hope and the hope of my colleagues in Maine that the Nebraska Republican Party decides not to make this desperate and ill-fated attempt to sway the 2024 election.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Competitive House race, too<\/h2>\n<p>The growing focus on Nebraska\u2019s 2nd Congressional District in presidential politics inevitably raises its stake in the fight for House control. Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) first won the seat in 2016 by beating a Democratic incumbent. Bacon is among 18 House Republicans in districts that would have been won by Biden four years ago, compared to only five Democrats in the inverse situation, holding seats where Trump would have prevailed.<\/p>\n<p>Bacon faces a rematch against Democratic state Sen. Tony Vargas. Bacon won 50.8% to 48.6%. But the political playing field figures to be different in a presidential year, particularly with the Biden campaign likely to pay a lot of attention to the 2nd Congressional District.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Bacon has carved out a center-right profile in the House. He was a strong proponent of the military aid package for Ukraine that eventually became law but faced strong resistance from MAGA-style lawmakers such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). First elected in 2016 after a military career in the Air Force, Bacon previously pushed for a pathway to citizenship for young immigrants brought to the country illegally by their parents. In December 2020, he was one of just seven House Republicans to vote with Democrats to continue the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects young immigrants.<\/p>\n<p>That approach makes sense politically in the 2nd Congressional District, which has a significant Latino population. It\u2019s a political recipe for more attention being paid by Team Biden to Nebraska\u2019s 2nd Congressional District. Which will, in turn, likely ratchet up efforts by Trump\u2019s campaign to ensure Omaha-area voters return to the Republican fold for the first time since 2016.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The path to President Joe Biden&#8217;s reelection weaves through deep-red Nebraska, an unexpected route for a Democrat. Despite Nebraska&#8217;s Republican leanings, voting Democrat in 1964, Trump secured a resounding victory in 2020. This lesser-known battleground plays a pivotal role in Biden&#8217;s electoral strategy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2695,"featured_media":2251895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/wbwh-nebraska-electoral-college-david-mark-052224_hcrop-1024x591.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2251894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/wbwh-nebraska-electoral-college-david-mark-052224_hcrop-1024x591.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2251894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2695"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2251894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2251894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2251895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2251894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2251894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2251894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}