Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District race could be one to watch

LINCOLN — As the political environment has worsened for Republicans, Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District is now viewed as more competitive than earlier in the cycle.

Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Flood represents a district that spans 12 counties, including Lancaster County, home to heavily Democratic Lincoln, a city whose blue voters are often drowned out by the region’s more conservative smaller cities and rural areas. He has won his past two U.S. House elections by 20 and 16 percentage points. But Cook Political Report and Inside Elections have recently shifted Flood’s race from safe — or solid — Republican to likely Republican. 

Chris Backemeyer, the Democratic challenger, has stayed under the radar throughout the cycle with few national outlets mentioning Backemeyer’s bid against Flood. If Backemeyer pulls off an upset, it would likely signal a historic night for Democrats nationally.  

Flood downplayed the rating changes, saying they likely reflect the political environment rather than the polling data. The former legislative speaker said he’d been in a race like this before, pointing to a 2022 special election against Patty Pansing Brooks. 

“I think the message is I’m a proven entity,” Flood told the Examiner. “I am rooted in this state, and I know its people, and I’ve delivered results. I’m not trying to get on TV every day or, you know, be a showboat. I’m trying to deliver for the people of my home state.”  

Backemeyer said he believed this race was winnable from the start because he appeals to “the part of the electorate that’s sort of center left (and) center right.” 

“The last thing we needed was the National Democratic Party telling us what to do in Nebraska’s 1st District, and so we’ve been able to run our own race,” Backemeyer said. “They finally have woken up and said, ‘Oh, holy cow! There’s actually a race here.” 

Backemeyer is a former diplomat who launched his bid shortly after he asked a question at one of Flood’s rowdy town halls last year. After winning his Democratic primary, Backemeyer then faced a brief month’s spat with Austin Ahlam, who joined the race as a nonpartisan before suspending his campaign over concerns about his father’s health. 

One recurring issue in this House race has been the Iran war. During the only debate in this race, Backemeyer emphasized his work on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal under then-President Barack Obama, saying the deal would have prevented the current war but was torn up for “partisan political purposes.”

The war in the Middle East has been ongoing since February. The war has caused high gas prices and skyrocketed farmers’ fertilizer costs. Flood, much like other Republicans in the midterm races, has acknowledged the increased prices. Flood has pointed to tax cuts from Trump’s tax and spending law and his role in passing a landmark housing law earlier this year as examples of his delivering for constituents. 

Flood has defended his votes for the war, saying the United States can’t pull out of Iran as it did in Afghanistan during the Biden administration. Flood has criticized the 2015 nuclear deal, calling it a “failed” deal. 

He recently told ABC’s affiliate KETV that he doesn’t want to undermine the president during the current conflict. 

Backemeyer has also attacked Flood over Trump’s tariffs. He has a campaign ad playing on Flood’s last name, saying people are getting “flooded” with high prices because he voted for the tariffs. 

Tariffs have been a key tool for the Trump administration, which has used them as a bargaining chip with other countries. While the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a major blow to Trump’s trade agenda earlier this year, some tariffs are still in place. 

Flood has said the Trump administration has made progress in trade relationships with countries across the globe, but “it takes time to dig out of the hole,” referring to earlier trade deals. Flood has attacked Backemeyer for being an “outsider” — pointing to his career in D.C. and a Plains Sentinel story about Backemeyer’s residency in Nebraska. 

“I believe strongly that Nebraskans want a representative who is invested in this district, someone whose roots are here and whose future is here,” Flood said in a Sunday press call. “That’s the difference in this race; Chris Backemeyer still has a lot of Washington in him.” 

Backemeyer told the Examiner that if Flood thinks his time in D.C. is a “negative, then that’s up to him.” 

He has worked for the State Department for 20 years in Washington, D.C., focusing on counterterrorism, economic policy and the Middle East. 

“As I’ve talked to people around this district, they think experience is valuable,” Backemeyer said. “They think that having somebody that understands Iran and how we could have stayed out of this war would have been useful to have in Congress instead of a rubber stamp.” 

The former diplomat said his final message isn’t about Flood’s character but his “failure” to push back against decisions from the Trump administration that have “hurt every single person in this district economically.” 

Two other candidates are in the race: Libertarian Nik Sandman and America First Party’s Dan Hartong. Their answers are in the Examiner’s voter guide.

The general election is Nov. 3. Early voting has already begun.