Dem Governor, Governor-elect in 2 Swing States Back Electing President by Popular Vote

With Democrats soon to be in full control of Congress following the Nov. 3 elections, Pennsylvania’s governor and Wisconsin’s governor-elect say they support electing the U.S. president by national popular vote and will talk with lawmakers about how to get there.

One option is a multistate compact. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact commits member states to award their electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the most votes nationwide. It takes effect only when states holding at least 270 of the 538 electoral votes join.

Eighteen states and the District of Columbia, together holding 222 electoral votes, have enacted it so far, according to National Popular Vote, the nonprofit group behind the compact.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who won reelection and whose party will control both chambers of the state legislature, was asked at Crooked Con, a left-leaning political conference hosted by Crooked Media in Washington on Nov. 7, whether he would push his state to join.

“I think that the national popular vote makes sense,” Shapiro said. “My views on that have not changed. I’ll work with lawmakers to figure out what the right mechanism is for moving forward on that.”

He said Pennsylvania, which he called the biggest swing state, would still play a major role under a national popular vote because of its 13 million residents, and that the most important thing is that “the will of the people is heard and respected.”

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Wisconsin Gov.-elect David Crowley, whose party will control the state legislature for the first time in 16 years, said he is interested in having those conversations with lawmakers, according to The Associated Press.

“We can do away with it,” Crowley said of the Electoral College.

Democrats won full control of six states with 71 electoral votes on Nov. 3: Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Minnesota joined the compact in 2023, leaving 61 electoral votes in the other five.

If Pennsylvania and Wisconsin joined, the compact would still need Michigan and either Arizona or Nevada to reach 270. The compact governs a presidential election only if states with 270 electoral votes have it in effect by July 20 of that year, according to National Popular Vote.

Other Democratic governors in those states have not committed.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, asked about the compact in an interview with Phoenix TV station AZ Family on Nov. 9, did not say whether she supports it. She said her top priorities are lowering costs, securing the border, protecting the state’s water, and public education, and that “we are working out other parts of the agenda as we head into the legislative session.”

Arizona state Sen.-elect Aaron Lieberman, a Phoenix Democrat, told the station he thinks joining the compact is “a great idea.” “I think there is an opportunity to do something like that in Arizona. We’re about to find out,” he said.

The office of Michigan Gov.-elect Jocelyn Benson said it would not comment, according to AP.

In Nevada, then-Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, vetoed a bill to join the compact in 2019, saying it would diminish the influence of smaller states such as Nevada. In 2023, Democratic lawmakers passed a proposed amendment to the state constitution to join the compact, but it did not advance to voters.

Tai Sims, a spokesman for Nevada Gov.-elect Aaron Ford, told AP, “There will be a time to talk about presidential elections, but right now Ford’s focus is lowering costs for working families.”

Republicans in those states no longer have the votes to block the compact.

Tyler August, the Republican leader in the Wisconsin Assembly, said the “Constitution gives states a voice in choosing the president for a reason.”

“This would undermine that balance and disenfranchise Wisconsin voters by letting results in other states override their choice,” he said in a statement to AP.

The America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank, said in a September analysis that the compact “disenfranchises voters in member states if enacted, violates the United States Constitution, and undermines America’s Founders’ intent.”

In 2000 and 2016, Republicans George W. Bush and Donald Trump won the White House while losing the national popular vote.