Pressure is building on Warren Buffett to pony up as Omaha's single electoral vote could decide the 2024 election
Nati Harnik/AP
- Democrats are pressuring Warren Buffett to reopen his wallet for political donations.
- The billionaire's influence could swing results in Omaha, clearing a victory path for Biden.
- Meanwhile, conservatives are backing efforts to push Nebraska to a winner-take-all system.
The pressure is on for Warren Buffett to reengage in political donations — something he's avoided for the last five years.
Democrats are counting on the billionaire's political generosity to clinch key races in the 2024 election, Bloomberg reported.
"Anytime that the Buffetts get engaged, it signals to other donors that it's more important to give," Jane Kleep, the State Democratic Party chair, told Bloomberg.
In a scenario typical of American elections these days, the presidency could come down to Omaha's single electoral vote. Nebraska has five electoral votes in total up for grabs, but the state is just one of two that awards votes to the winners of each congressional district rather than a winner-takes-all system.
In what is expected to be a closely contested election, it will come down to several battleground states to determine whether President Joe Biden or Donald Trump triumphs. If Biden secures Omaha's vote and wins Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin (a trio he swept in the 2020 election), he will keep the White House.
Many are confident that Buffett's hometown, which some call "Joemaha," will go for the incumbent, who won the corresponding congressional district in 2020. But Trump won the district in 2016, leaving others anxious about Biden's chances, according to Bloomberg.
It could all depend on how much money Democrats have to spend in the district.
"I do hope they get more involved in this cycle in a visible way, because Buffett brings all the good luck," Kleep told Bloomberg.
Conservatives, meanwhile, are campaigning to change how Nebraska's electoral votes are disbursed. Trump is pushing for legislation to shift Nebraska to a winner-take-all system.
"I am steadfast in my commitment to get winner-take-all over the finish line, thereby honoring our constitutional founding, unifying our state, and ending the three-decade-old mistake of allocating Nebraska's electoral votes differently than all but one other state," Republican Gov. Jim Pillen tweeted in April, committing to sign the bill if it makes it to his desk via a special legislative session.