Flood Highlights Bipartisanship in Contentious Norfolk Town Hall
by Lewis Thune
NORFOLK — With a divided audience at his Tuesday town hall, Congressman Mike Flood of Nebraska’s First District repeatedly stressed his commitment to bipartisanship in a full hour of questions and answers with Nebraska constituents.
“I get that you can turn the TV on any day of the week, and you can get upset by what you see, but I want to be judged on the things that I do. I want to be judged on the way I conduct myself, and I want to be judged on my bipartisan, commonsense results,” he said.
Throughout the night – amid frequent interruptions from an unruly crowd – Flood touted his work across the aisle. Specifically mentioned were housing efforts with Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), AI deepfake restrictions with Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-CO), and measures such as appropriations, the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, and the Farm, Food and National Security Act.
“You sent me to Washington to fix problems, to work with people, and to do it the bipartisan way,” he said, “I am working to be bipartisan. I’m working to get you results.”
The event took place in Flood’s hometown of Norfolk at Norfolk Senior High School’s Johnny Carson Theater, where former State Sen. Chris Langemeier moderated live and write-in questions from constituents.
Raucous Crowd Started Early
While all in attendance rose for the Pledge of Allegiance and enjoyed a performance of “God Bless America” by Norfolk Senior High Students, the auditorium quickly settled into very distinct camps. The evening’s first shouts and boos erupted as Flood fielded the first live question from a constituent regarding the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
“I was presiding in the House of Representatives the day that bill was presented to the House, I not only voted for the bill, I declared the bill had passed. It was later sent to the Senate that evening, and it was approved. It was signed by the President,” he said.
The first applause followed a minute later as Flood addressed one of many questions relating to recently announced Department of Justice Anti-Weaponization Fund:
“This is less than a week old. I am going to be back in Washington on Tuesday – I will say this, though: I do not want one dollar of that going to anybody who physically assaulted police officers” he said.
The subsequent question on gas and fertilizer prices amid military engagement in Iran drew shouts of affirmation and anger from opposite aisles, Flood expressed his support for efforts to weaken the Iranian regime and talks of reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Further questions ranged from the national debt to Nebraska’s progress in modular reactor construction, which produced chants of “tax the rich” beside accusations of lies and thuggery.
Flood spoke on cryptocurrencies, term limits, and immigration reform among many other issues, alternatively engaging and dismissing the many attendees who routinely interrupted him.
“I started the process in 2007 to build a college of nursing school in Norfolk. I went out personally and raised the private money to do it” he said when a Lincoln resident pressed him regarding healthcare, “So when talk about rural Nebraska, ma’am, I live here. I live in this town. I grew up in this town. I know the nurses’ names. I’ve helped get them educations.”
Flood tackled repeated questions about federal spending and budget deficits from faces he recognized from previous town halls.
“When I voted on cuts to spending last year, many of you, some of you in this room, were very upset with every single cut I voted for, but that is what you have to do” he said, drowning out a shout of protest from the back rows of the auditorium.
Marijuana Hot Topic at Town Hall
Though he went on to praise Nebraska’s balanced budget and champion the One Big Beautiful Bill’s elimination of $2 Trillion in federal spending – the latter of which earned simultaneous boos and cheers – the evening’s hottest topic was medical marijuana.
Flood, a longtime opponent of marijuana, answered five different constituents regarding the state and federal classifications of it and related cannabis products, which are broadly inaccessible despite their legality.
“I’m on the federal level, I’m not on the state level anymore,” he said, “I do not think expanding access to marijuana is in the long-term best interests of our country. That said, the state of Nebraska took this issue up, they voted, it’s the law, it should be carried out.”
The shouts of discontent, however, only escalated as Flood reiterated his wishes that the Nebraska law be upheld despite his personal opposition, escalating in an accusation that he wished to see medical cannabis patients die.
“It goes without saying, I do not want you to die” he said.
At the final rehashing of the cannabis debate, the room’s two sides descended into their only direct shouting match of the night, with Flood pausing briefly to hear what was being said before successfully tabling the issue.
Owing to federal ethics, Flood only declined to comment regarding campaign finance reform. The question gave specific attention to his own re-election bid which has garnered national attention with Democrat Christ Backemeyer and Independent Austin Ahlman running to unseat him.
“I’m standing here as a public official. The campaign is separate from the work I do as a public official, and I’m sure in the right setting we can go over that” he said.
And the fireworks from Norfolk are unlikely to settle before November, with another Flood town hall happening again soon.
“This is what I promised the people of the first district I would do when I ran for office. Last year I did three, this is the first of my town hall series this year,” he said, “These things are an experiment in democracy.”
Until then, the two crowds gathered at Johnny Carson Theater are left with Flood’s closing message to both.
“My results speak for themselves. I’m bipartisan, I use common sense,” he said, “we can have these continuing conversations, and as long as I’m in this role, I’ll do my best to represent you in Washington.”
— Lewis Thune is a writing fellow with The Plains Sentinel.