The Nebraska Democrat party censured State Sen. Mike McDonnell on March 2 for his pro-life views and his refusal to comply with the transgender activist agenda, before he ultimately switched to the Republican Party on Wednesday.
On March 2, the state Democrat party announced it had censured McDonnell because his voting record had “adversely affected the reproductive rights of Nebraskans and the rights of transgender individuals in the state,” WOWT reported. Censuring a lawmaker is an expression of “condemnation or denouncement” or a “formal statement of disapproval,” according to the U.S. Senate website.
Mike McDonnell (Photo via Facebook)
“I am a Christian! I am a lifelong member of the Roman Catholic Church! I am Pro-Life! The censure of me, from the Nebraska Democratic Party, will not change my Pro-Life vote!” McDonnell responded in a statement.
In January, the Douglas County Democrats also voted to pull their support for McDonnell citing similar reasons, according to the report.
McDonnell addressed the backlash in a press conference this week, in which he announced that he left the Democrat party to become a Republican.
State Sen. Mike McDonnell of Omaha makes it official before a lunch hour presser. He’s leaving the @NebraskaDems for the @NEGOP. pic.twitter.com/W8OJA3OciS
— Aaron Sanderford (@asanderford) April 3, 2024
“I asked the Democratic Party…to respect that I’m pro-life, that I’m a member of the Roman Catholic Church — and my beliefs are based on that,” he said.
“Instead of respecting that, they decided to punish it,” he added, noting the Democrats tried to keep him from participating and stripped him of party resources. “The state Democratic Party decided to censure me. I continued to vote pro-life.”
🚨Catholic Nebraska State Sen. Mike McDonnell sends Democrat Party into SHOCK after announcing he’s LEAVING Party on LIVE TV to become a Republican after Democrats openly PUNISH him for being Pro-Life:
— CatholicVote (@CatholicVote) April 4, 2024
“I have asked the Democratic Party to respect my religious-based pro-life… pic.twitter.com/XB0WqmTi1c
McDonnell’s move to the Republican side gave the state party a filibuster-proof majority in the state legislature and led to calls to change the state electoral vote process to a winner-take-all system ahead of the 2024 presidential election. The state currently has a split electoral vote awarding system that gives two electoral votes to the state’s popular vote winner, and then one electoral vote to the popular vote winner in each congressional district.
In 2020, former President Donald Trump won a majority of support in Nebraska but did not win all electoral votes. He earned five, while one went to President Joe Biden. In a winner-take-all system, where Trump earns a majority of the overall vote, he would carry all electoral votes.
Ultimately, the effort to change the electoral vote allocation system failed in the state’s unicameral legislature Wednesday night.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
