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News Brief

April 11, 2025 |  By: Associated Press

Electoral votes in Nebraska

A bill to make Nebraska’s method of awarding presidential electoral votes a winner-take-all system failed to survive a filibuster after two Republican lawmakers broke with their own party.

The bill’s failure preserves the Omaha area’s “blue dot” congressional district that has seen its electoral vote — one of Nebraska’s five — go to Democratic candidates in three of the past five presidential elections.

Republican Senator Merv Riepe, of Ralston, followed through on his promise not to support the winner-take-all proposal, despite a full-court press by Governor Jim Pillen to apply public pressure on him. That included a written statement from the governor for Riepe to stand “with his fellow Republicans on this critical issue.” Pillen also highlighted Riepe’s prior votes over the years to support a change to winner-take-all.


But Riepe, whose legislative district is almost evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, reiterated that the winner-take-all system is “a poison pill for my district.” Riepe faces reelection next year if he decides to run for another term.