A Nebraska state senator has switched to the Republican Party after being a Democrat for 40 years. State Senator Mike McDonnell said one of the main reasons he is switching parties is because of his anti-abortion stance. The lawmaker said that his religious beliefs about the sanctity of life made Democrats “punish” him by taking away their support and having the state party’s main committee censure him.

“Today I’m announcing, I am now going to be a registered Republican in the state of Nebraska,” said, McDonnell, a former firefighter and union leader. I asked the Democratic Party in Douglas County to respect that I’m pro-life, that I’m a member of the Roman Catholic Church. And my beliefs are based on that,” McDonnell said. “Douglas County Democrats instead of respecting it, they decided to punish it.”

“They said you cannot participate, you can’t be a delegate, we’re not gonna share our party resources,” he added. “I continue to vote pro-life. The state Democratic Party decided to censure me. I continue to vote pro-life.” The Nebraska Democratic Party, which censured McDonnell previously, pushed back on his claim.

“The Nebraska Democratic Party will continue to stand up for reproductive freedom and the human rights of the LGBTQ community. Our decision to censure Sen. McDonnell was never about him being a pro-life Catholic,” NDP chair Jane Kleeb said Wednesday in a statement.

“Our decision was based on our party reaffirming our core values to protect women’s ability to make health decisions and to keep politicians out of our personal health decisions. We respect the ongoing work of Senator McDonnell on behalf of unions and his commitment to protect a fair electoral vote system we have in our state,” Kleeb added.

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“McDonnell’s switch, confirmed by Douglas County election officials, gives the GOP 33 members in a one-house Legislature. That’s a significant number in a 49-member body with rules that require 33 votes to overcome a filibuster. Democrats would then hold 15 seats, plus a progressive who is a registered nonpartisan,” the Nebraska Examiner reported. “The Legislature is officially nonpartisan and often splits along different fault lines than political party. On controversial votes, however, senators tend to vote more often along party lines.”