(Picture credit Nebraska Public Media)
LINCOLN — Nebraska’s first congressional district hosted its first and only debate for the 2026 midterms on Wednesday night, pitting GOP incumbent Congressman Mike Flood against Democratic challenger Chris Backemeyer.
The debate, which took place at Nebraska Public Media’s (NPM) headquarters, spanned an hour under the moderation of NPM’s Jackie Ourada and the Omaha World-Herald’s Aaron Sanderford.
Backemeyer pitched himself as a public servant and political outsider, often returning his attacks to issues of trade and Iran. Flood embraced his experience and attacked his opponent as out of touch and lacking solutions.
The night began on Iran, with both men giving it specific attention in their opening remarks. Backemeyer highlighted his record on foreign affairs in his many years with the State Department, helping to secure the 2015 Iran Deal, while Flood criticized the deal.
“[It] prevented Iran from ever getting a nuclear weapon and would have also prevented the war that we’re in today had it not been torn up,” Backemeyer said.
“[It] allowed them to keep their nuclear infrastructure and access tens of billions of dollars to spend on terrorism throughout the world,” Flood responded.
The first question of the night stuck with Iran, asking the two candidates to respond to the high fertilizer and diesel prices that have compounded an already poor year for Nebraska farmers. Backemeyer pointed to current failures on notable objectives:
“Iran still is controlled by an evil dictator. Iran still has enough uranium for 10 nuclear warheads. The Iranian people are no better off than they were before President Trump promised to help them,” said Backemeyer.
Flood advocated for “balancing interests” between lower costs and a militant foreign adversary with a terrorism wing.
“I want it over as fast as everybody else, but I’m not willing to cut and run until the job is done, at least that we know that they don’t have the ability to attack us with a nuclear weapon,” said Flood.
The moderators then pivoted to the tech front, where the two agreed that Congress should pursue oversight and consider regulation on the AI industry, and data centers should provide tax breaks to the localities that elect to build them. On real estate costs, Flood plugged his work with Democrats on deregulation while Backemeyer attacked the Administration’s tariffs.
After questions on the state of Social Security and rural healthcare, the matter of immigration arose, with a question on how Congress can expand legal avenues for immigration.
“We need to secure our borders with both physical and technological barriers, but then we also need to find a legal pathway to provide for people that we want to be in this country,” Backemeyer said.
“We have to have a system that lets people come in the right way… But I do not support amnesty,” said Flood. “We cannot lose what we’ve done at the southern border.”
Flood stated he was presently looking into better protections for the H-2A process to stabilize the agricultural workforce. Backemeyer said that he supported a pathway to citizenship but did not support abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“But this sort of domestic law enforcement that’s terrorized our communities is not acceptable,” he added.
Flood had some criticisms for ICE as well, faulting its former director Kristi Noem.
“I was very disappointed when the Democrats refused to fund our Border Patrol or our Immigration Customs Enforcement. But I will also say this: what we saw happen up in Minnesota was too much… I was pleased to see that President Trump quickly pivoted from Secretary Noem and brought Tom Homan back into the mix.”
This prompted the two to briefly trade shots over their party lines – Flood noted that no Democrat had voted to fund Border Patrol, questioning whether Backemeyer would actually stand up to a Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Backemeyer fired back that Flood had failed to stand up to the Trump Administration on any meaningful ground, leading to the first and only interruption of the night: Flood responding “that’s not true.”
Flood noted Backemeyer’s tendency to revert all issues back to Iran and trade; he observed that his opponent “Knew more about Iran than Nebraska.” With Backemeyer spending the better part of nearly three decades in Washington D.C. until recently, Flood wondered whether his opponent’s return to Nebraska would herald a return to greatness for Nebraska football.
“Chris has a lot of Washington in him. He’s really good at telling you all the problems,” Flood said in closing. “One of us on this stage tonight has actually reached across the aisle and solved problems. I’ve built my life here. I listen, and I get results.”
Backemeyer was equally blunt.
“Are you happy with the direction of our country and of our state? Do you feel good about the way things are going? If so, Congressman Flood is your guy, because a vote for him is a vote for two more years of the same,” he said. “I am the one on this stage who has worked across the aisle. I am the one who has worked to solve problems.”
The two exchanged pleasantries afterward before talking to the press.
“Congratulations to him for wanting to do this,” Flood said, indicating Backemeyer just behind. “There’s a lot of people that don’t want to touch this business with a ten-foot pole, because people get treated like garbage. Regardless of whether him and I agree on an issue, at least he has the fortitude to put his name on a ballot and say ‘let’s do this.’ And I respect that.”
“I’m not a career politician, or even a politician. It’s my first time,” Backemeyer told the Sentinel. “It’s really weird looking in the cameras up there all by yourself and waiting for that next question to come. I think I did okay.”
In response to Backemeyer’s point on not opposing the Administration, Flood stated he was discouraged with the Administration floating a diesel export ban and waiving out-of-quota tariffs on a massive beef import. As a former media man, he was most displeased with Trump’s decision to revoke press passes for CNN and other outlets:
“I hope this is short lived. I’m sure a court will fix it, and if they don’t, it needs to get fixed.”
In response to Flood’s jabs on not being truly grounded in Nebraska, Backemeyer reiterated he’d taken Nebraska with him to D.C. and beyond:
“My family’s been here for 150 years nonstop… I chose a profession that took me to over 55 countries around the world, and in every single one of those countries, when somebody would ask me where I was from, I would say I was from Nebraska.”
And to that effect, both expressed optimism at Flood’s joke that perhaps Backemeyer’s return was the lucky charm for Husker football.
“I’m hoping we can pull it off, think about what it would do for just the atmosphere in Nebraska – I remember when we won the national championship in 1995, I drove from Norfolk to Seward just to get the Sports Illustrated,” Flood said.
“I’ve seen every game – I think Jamal Rule looks fantastic,” Backemeyer said. “I think we can win 10 games for sure.”
— Lewis Thune is a College Fix writing fellow with The Plains Sentinel.