Mike McDonnell
Mike McDonnell (Republican Party) was a member of the Nebraska State Senate, representing District 5. He assumed office on January 4, 2017. He left office on January 8, 2025.
McDonnell ran for election for Mayor of Omaha in Nebraska. He lost in the primary on April 1, 2025.
On April 3, 2024, McDonnell announced that he was leaving the Democratic Party and would register as a Republican based on his “religious-based, pro-life position”.[1]
Committee assignments
2023-2024
McDonnell was assigned to the following committees:
2021-2022
McDonnell was assigned to the following committees:
2019-2020
McDonnell was assigned to the following committees:
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Nebraska committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Appropriations |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2025
See also: Mayoral election in Omaha, Nebraska (2025)
General election
General election for Mayor of Omaha
John Ewing Jr. defeated incumbent Jean Stothert and Jerome Wallace Sr. in the general election for Mayor of Omaha on May 13, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | John Ewing Jr. (Nonpartisan) | 56.8 | 53,671 |
 | Jean Stothert (Nonpartisan) | 42.9 | 40,531 | |
| Jerome Wallace Sr. (Nonpartisan) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 0 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 267 | ||
| Total votes: 94,469 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Mayor of Omaha
Incumbent Jean Stothert and John Ewing Jr. defeated Mike McDonnell, Jasmine Harris, and Terry Brewer in the primary for Mayor of Omaha on April 1, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jean Stothert (Nonpartisan) | 36.2 | 27,245 |
| ✔ | | John Ewing Jr. (Nonpartisan) | 32.7 | 24,605 |
 | Mike McDonnell (Nonpartisan) | 20.0 | 15,039 | |
 | Jasmine Harris (Nonpartisan) | 10.2 | 7,706 | |
 | Terry Brewer (Nonpartisan) | 0.7 | 563 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 50 | ||
| Total votes: 75,208 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for McDonnell in this election.
2024
- See also: Nebraska State Senate elections, 2024
Mike McDonnell was not able to file for re-election due to term limits.
2020
See also: Nebraska State Senate elections, 2020
General election
General election for Nebraska State Senate District 5
Incumbent Mike McDonnell defeated Gilbert Ayala in the general election for Nebraska State Senate District 5 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mike McDonnell (Nonpartisan) | 63.2 | 6,947 |
 | Gilbert Ayala (Nonpartisan) | 36.8 | 4,053 | |
| Total votes: 11,000 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Nebraska State Senate District 5
Incumbent Mike McDonnell and Gilbert Ayala advanced from the primary for Nebraska State Senate District 5 on May 12, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mike McDonnell (Nonpartisan) | 70.0 | 3,578 |
| ✔ | | Gilbert Ayala (Nonpartisan) | 30.0 | 1,536 |
| Total votes: 5,114 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2016
- See also: Nebraska State Senate elections, 2016
Elections for the Nebraska State Senate were held in 2016. The primary election took place on May 10, 2016. The general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was February 16, 2016, for incumbents. Challengers were required to file by March 1, 2016.[2] Incumbent Heath Mello did not seek re-election because of term-limits.
Mike McDonnell defeated Gilbert Ayala in the Nebraska State Senate District 5 general election.[3][4]
| Nebraska State Senate, District 5 General Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Mike McDonnell |
70.16% | 7,120 |
| Gilbert Ayala | 29.84% | 3,028 |
| Total Votes | 10,148 | |
| Source: Nebraska Secretary of State | ||
Mike McDonnell and Gilbert Ayala were unopposed in the Nebraska State Senate District 5 primary.[5][6]
| Nebraska State Senate, District 5 Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | ||
| Mike McDonnell | ||
| Gilbert Ayala | ||
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Mike McDonnell did not complete Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
has not yet completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.
Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?
Any candidate running for elected office, at any level, can complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Survey. Completing the survey will update the candidate's Ballotpedia profile, letting voters know who they are and what they stand for. More than candidates have taken Ballotpedia's candidate survey since we launched it in 2015. Learn more about the survey here.
Help improve Ballotpedia - send us candidate contact info.
2020
Mike McDonnell did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Nebraska State Senate (Unicameral) in 2024.
- Club for Growth Foundation — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues.
- Holland Children's Movement — Legislators are scored on children's issues.
- National Federation of Independent Business — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Nebraska State Senate (Unicameral) in 2023.
- Holland Children's Movement — Legislators are scored on children's issues.
- The American Conservative Union — Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Nebraska State Senate (Unicameral) in 2022.
- Americans for Prosperity - Nebraska — Legislators are scored on their stances on conservative fiscal policy.
- Holland Children's Movement — Legislators are scored on children's issues.
- National Federation of Independent Business — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Nebraska State Senate (Unicameral) in 2021.
- Club for Growth Foundation — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues.
- Holland Children's Movement — Legislators are scored on children's issues.
- The American Conservative Union — Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Nebraska State Senate (Unicameral) in 2020.
- Holland Children's Movement — Legislators are scored on children's issues.
- The American Conservative Union — Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Nebraska State Senate (Unicameral) in 2019.
- Holland Children's Movement — Legislators are scored on children's issues.
- The American Conservative Union — Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Nebraska State Senate (Unicameral) in 2018.
- Holland Children's Movement — Legislators are scored on children's issues.
- National Federation of Independent Business — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Nebraska Chamber of Commerce & Industry — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- The American Conservative Union — Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Nebraska State Senate (Unicameral) in 2017.
- Holland Children's Movement — Legislators are scored on children's issues.
- The American Conservative Union — Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Norfolkneradio.com, "State Sen. Mike McDonnell’s officially switches from Deomocrat to GOP," April 4, 2024
- ↑ Nebraska Secretary of State, "Official Election Calendar," accessed December 7, 2015
- ↑ Nebraska Secretary of State, "Statewide Candidate List for general election," accessed August 19, 2016
- ↑ Nebraska Secetary of State, "General election results, 2016," accessed December 21, 2016
- ↑ Nebraska Secretary of State, "Statewide Candidate List," accessed May 16, 2016
- ↑ Nebraska Secretary of State, "Primary Election May 10, 2016," accessed October 14, 2016
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Nebraska State Senate District 5 2017-2025 |
Succeeded by Margo Juarez (D) |
| |||||||||
