How a single Blue Dot sign exploded into a grassroots movement

That’s when Brown stumbled upon an old yard sign hanging on the wall, and creativity struck. He grabbed a bottle of blue spray paint and painted a giant blue dot, inspired by his district’s status as a Democratic anomaly in a deeply red state. 

“When we were watching the beginning of the Democratic National Convention, we were also hearing the resurgence of the concept of the Blue Dot,” Brown told the Washington Examiner. “We were highly enthused, very excited about Kamala’s candidacy.”

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After the paint had dried, Brown showed his wife Ruth the final project. The two grew excited and decided to place the sign on their front lawn, choosing not to add any candidate endorsement or anything more than the Blue Dot emblem. 

“We decided not to do any other words, nothing,” Brown said. “Leave it kind of mysterious. Leave it clean. Leave it as it was.”

From there, momentum began to grow. Hours after placing the sign on the lawn, a neighbor approached Brown to ask where he got it. Brown offered to make another sign, prompting the couple to order 10 blank signs online. That way, they figured, if nine others wanted a sign, they would have enough supply.

Things began to explode. 

“It just absolutely went viral,” Brown said. “And it really went viral more in an old school way, because it was more like people driving down our street … Those friends of our neighbors asked, ‘Where’d you get your signs? Or where are these signs from?’ And [neighbors], you know, very graciously, pointed them in our direction, and suddenly our doorbell was ringing, and something was brewing.”

Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, which encompasses much of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area, first emerged as a so-called blue dot after state law changed in 1992 to adjust how Nebraska allocates its Electoral College votes. 

Under that system, the state allocates two electoral votes to the candidate who wins the statewide popular vote and then awards one electoral vote to the winner of the popular vote in each congressional district. Nebraska has three congressional districts, creating four popular vote contests in the state, often leading to a split electoral outcome.

Since that change, the district has supported the Democratic candidate twice: President Barack Obama in 2008 followed by President Joe Biden in 2020. This year, the party largely expects it to back Vice President Kamala Harris — and it could be the vote that ultimately secures her a victory. 

“[The district is] hugely significant because this is a tied race,” Republican strategist Dennis Lennox told the Washington Examiner. “Trump and Harris need an extra electoral vote anywhere they can get it.”

But the district is receiving even more attention in the 2024 cycle thanks to a tight electoral map that shows the presidential race in a dead heat between Harris and former President Donald Trump. In some projections, the lone electoral vote could be what breaks a 269-269 tie in the Electoral College. 

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“We would be so proud and so elated if we find out the news is that there is a tie, and [the 2nd District] in Nebraska is the tiebreaker for Kamala. We would be thrilled,” Brown said, adding that “we certainly don’t want it to come down to being that close. We would love to see it being a bigger win than just us.”

That Electoral College math spooked Republicans earlier this year, even sparking an effort among the Nebraska GOP delegation to return the state to a winner-takes-all system to ensure a Trump sweep of all five electoral votes. That push was supported by national Republicans, including Trump himself, but ultimately failed to be considered by the state legislature due to a lack of support.

Part of that could be attributed to the enthusiasm from the Blue Dot movement, Brown said.

“From our perspective, the other thing that we saw was the power of this movement in maybe having some say in how Nebraska put pressure on our legislators and on our unicameral to change the rules,” Brown said. “And that didn’t happen. And there’s a lot of players in that, in why it didn’t happen. And so that was really sweet, too. That was really cool to see.”

However, strategists warn that may not be the end of such efforts, especially if the district proves a threat to the GOP.

“If Nebraska’s one elector in Omaha ends up deciding this election, I can guarantee you that this will be the last election in which Nebraska has the system that it currently has,” Lennox said. “Because the Republicans who control the state will certainly find the votes in the state legislature that they couldn’t find a month or two ago to change the system.”

But in the meantime, Brown and his wife will do anything they can to motivate voter turnout and encourage Democrats in the 2nd District — expanding their garage-based sign project into a districtwide operation. 

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As demand began to grow — from 100 to 300 to 1,800 handmade signs being ordered at once — the couple decided to outsource production to a local printer to begin mass production. Since launching the Blue Dot movement in early September, the group has created more than 14,000 signs across the district. 

“Really there was no strategy,” Brown said. “We didn’t have this idea and start to put together this big plan. There was zero plan. It really just came together because we were inspired by Kamala Harris’s comment about doing something.”

From there, the group evolved to invest more in voter outreach by hosting phone banking events as well as opportunities to gather with fellow supporters and wave signs along the sidewalks near busy Nebraska streets. 

Dozens of Blue Dot members gather at these so-called “bridge events,” noting they are thrilled to have an opportunity to participate in a positive campaign activity. 

“I just want to be around positive energy, you know, doing everything you can going into this election to just feel like we’re doing something and being involved instead of doom-scrolling on our phones,” Allison Kinney-Walker, who is running for school board in Millard school district, told the Washington Examiner. 

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As the group waves their signs, several cars honk in support as they pass by. Voters who show up empty-handed are given Blue Dot signs to join in. 

“We realized people are really hungry for community,” Brown said. “They really love this joyous feeling of discovering that there’s a lot of blue dot people in Omaha.”