by Christopher Hass

WASHINGTON(RushPRnews)11/08/08-Alone among all other states, Nebraska and Maine use a tiered system for awarding electoral votes, in which a single elector is awarded based on votes within each Congressional district and two electors are awarded to the winner of the statewide popular vote. Yesterday, the Omaha World-Herald announced:

For the first time ever, a blue circle will appear in Nebraska on national electoral maps.

Democrat Barack Obama won the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District on Friday, scooping up one of the state’s five electoral votes.

… “We always knew we could do it, but it would be an uphill climb. It’s great to see a little corner of Nebraska turn blue,” said John Berge, state director for the Obama campaign.

Berge said the victory was a tribute to all the work done by staffers and the hundreds of Obama volunteers who manned telephones and walked neighborhoods in the Omaha metropolitan area.

Tuesday’s election is the first time since 1964 that Nebraska has awarded an electoral vote to a Democrat.

The Nebraska results give Obama 365 electoral votes to John McCain’s 162. Only Missouri and its 11 electoral votes remain undecided.