Nebraska Democrats to consider ‘inflection point’ censure of State Sen. Mike McDonnell
Constituents view push as a deciding moment for Nebraska Democratic Party to determine what it stands for; party chair says “all shades of blue” make the party strong
Zach Wendling, Nebraska Examiner
LINCOLN — After one Democratic state senator supported a stricter abortion ban and restrictions on transgender health care, some Nebraska Democrats are advancing a censure resolution they say could decide the party’s future.
Leaders of the Nebraska Democratic Party will meet in Scottsbluff on Saturday and, if they reach quorum, consider a censure resolution against Omaha State Sen. Mike McDonnell because of his support this spring for Legislative Bill 574, which restricted gender-affirming care for minors and banned abortion after 12 weeks gestational age.
McDonnell was the only Democratic senator in the officially nonpartisan Legislature to vote for LB 574. For some of his constituents, the timing of the resolution vote raises the stakes for Democrats.
Multiple high-profile Democratic elected officials and volunteers are also expected to march in Heartland Pride with LGBTQ Nebraskans on Saturday, on the other side of the state in Omaha.
Luke Schroer, who lives in McDonnell’s district and who is gay, said the senator has harmed his constituents.
If Democrats can’t “figure it out” Saturday, Schroer said, “it’s just going to be that one more little feather on the scale,” or a “rock” as the pressure has grown.
The Stonewall Democrats of Nebraska, an official LGBTQIA2S+ caucus, introduced the resolution arguing that LB 574 “egregiously violated the human rights of Nebraskans.”
The resolution calls on Democrats to withhold all party resources from McDonnell, immediately and indefinitely, and alleges McDonnell violated the party’s constitution, bylaws, platform and core values.
The platform includes advocacy for reproductive and LGBTQ rights.
McDonnell, responding to requests for comment, said he would be willing to talk after Saturday’s vote.
McDonnell’s past comments
When the Douglas County Democratic Party voted against him in February for a leadership bid, McDonnell told the Nebraska Examiner that he was upfront with voters about his anti-abortion stance and his Catholic faith. He said he’s been a Democrat since 1984.
“I’ve been consistent and made that statement from Day One,” he said at the time. “If people weren’t aware of that, if they didn’t realize what that meant, then I understand that they have questions and try to answer them.”
McDonnell, who is term limited out of the Legislature next year, is considering a run for Omaha mayor in 2025. Marcheck said if he does, he shouldn’t run as a Democrat.
The Douglas County Democratic Party denied him the leadership post similarly because of his support for LB 574 and LB 626, a stricter, near-total abortion ban that failed by one vote.
C.J. King, chair of the Douglas County Democratic Party, said he would wait to hear evidence on Saturday before the appropriate course of action. King is a longtime friend of McDonnell but said he disagrees with a “whole bunch” of his votes.
‘We’re turning the other cheek’
Mike Marcheck, chair of the Stonewall Dems, is leading the resolution, at the least, he said, to prevent any party support or funding for McDonnell. Marcheck said it currently feels like McDonnell is “laughing at us.”
“He’s just slapping us in the face and we’re [Democrats] turning the other cheek,” he said.
The end goal is to push McDonnell out of the party, he said.
“Republicans didn’t get rid of abortion rights in the state,” Marcheck added. “Democrats did.”
The resolution is also supported by the Secular Democrats of Nebraska and the Democrats Experiencing Disabilities Caucus.
‘All shades of blue’
Jane Kleeb, chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party, said in a Thursday statement that she has “always believed that all shades of blue make our party strong.”
“Building power is about addition, not subtraction,” Kleeb said. “… Our party is working to elect Democrats across the state so one vote does not define our reproductive rights, safety and freedoms.”
Marcheck and Lacy Smith, who chairs the disability caucus, criticized the state party for celebrating after the 2022 midterms and saying then that the party maintained a “firewall” of senators — 17 members who could, as a bloc, prevent legislation from moving forward.
The Legislature’s rules require at least 33 votes to end a filibuster. Republicans hold 32 of 49 seats.
State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha, a progressive who left the Democratic Party this spring citing concerns with the national party, warned just days after the 2022 election that the Legislature had anti-abortion Democrats and “for the first time, zero moderate Republicans.”
Multiple moderate Republicans were term-limited out of the Legislature in 2022. Several were replaced by more conservative lawmakers. This paved the way for the passage of more conservative measures this year, including LB 574.
Size of political tent
The state party has in the past embraced Democratic officeholders who opposed abortion.
In fact, one of the state party’s biggest fundraisers is named after former Nebraska Gov. and U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, who opposed abortion during his time in office.
McDonnell’s predecessor, former State Sen. Heath Mello, opposed abortion, yet he ran for Omaha mayor in 2017 with party support.
Hunt said that she is personally against censure because the decision on whether to support McDonnell should be up to the voters to decide and that a censure could stifle speech. She said she also didn’t like censure actions against former U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb.
“McDonnell knows that his views are not only deeply unpopular but harmful, and he holds them anyway,” Hunt said in a text. “But I believe he has a right to be bigoted and cruel and call himself a member of whatever political party he wants.”
Hunt said the issue wasn’t about McDonnell voting with Republicans but about restricting health care.
Can’t have it both ways
Isabella Manhart, an 18-year-old constituent of McDonnell’s, said their family met with McDonnell earlier this session.
During that meeting, said Manhart, who is nonbinary and whose younger brother is trans, McDonnell compared hormone therapies to heroin.
Jill Dibbern Manhart, Isabella’s mother, said the issue is human rights and whether the Nebraska Democratic Party is committed to those values.
Molly Davies, an educator and member of the Omaha Education Association who lives in McDonnell’s district, said her concern was that McDonnell supported a nearly full ban on abortion and a “direct attack” on LGBTQ people.
McDonnell is the president of the Omaha Federation of Labor, which includes unions that are among the Nebraska Democratic Party’s biggest donors.
Marcheck predicted that the party will lose members and funding either way — from progressives or those aligned with McDonnell.
Isabella Manhart said it’s time for Democrats in Nebraska to know they can’t have it both ways, and Saturday’s vote will be an “inflection point” on where the party stands.
“They can’t be marching in the pride parade this weekend as our allies,” Manhart said, “and then also be supporting a man who’s attacking our rights to exist in this state.”