Harris, Democrats Spending Large Amounts of Money in Nebraska

In a very tight national election, seemingly, every electoral vote is necessary to secure the win for presidency in November. Perhaps that’s the reason for the Harris campaign to spend amounts of money not seen since Obama’s 2008 campaign in Nebraska’s 2nd congressional district- notably including Omaha.

Kamala Harris and Democratic groups have spent more than $5 million in the district since she entered the race on July 23, and have more than $6 million in ad time reserved through Election Day, Nov. 5, according to the media-tracking firm AdImpact. Former President Donald Trump’s campaign, on the other hand, had spent only about $95,000 on advertising in the state and had reserved roughly $6,800 through Nov. 5.

Trump and Republican allies had sought another route to victory, namely to persuade the Republican-dominated Legislature to make Nebraska a winner-take-all contest instead of awarding its Electoral College votes by congressional district. Maine is the only other state that awards its votes that way. 

Lacking the votes in Nebraska’s unicameral Legislature however, Republican Gov. Jim Pillen said he would not call a special session to attempt the change.

For Nebraska’s 2nd District to break the tie in the race for the winning majority of 270 Electoral College votes, Trump would have to win all Republican-leaning states plus Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina. He would also have to win Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, which he won in 2020, while losing the state overall.