Mike Flood Kicks off Campaign for Reelection
by Matt Johnson
Nebraska Congressman Mike Flood kicked off his 2026 reelection campaign in Papillion on Sunday afternoon as he seeks a third term to represent District 1.
Around fifty guests were in attendance, including Speaker John Arch, state senators Rick Holdcroft and Rita Sanders, and Bellevue Mayor Rusty Hike. Flood spoke with guests on legislation passed recently in the House, as well as tackling issues such as housing affordability, border security, and tax cuts.
Taxing & Spending
Flood touted the recently passed tax cuts in the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” stating that taxpayers will discover their take-home pay and tax return will be higher this year.
“They’re going to find out that their pay, thanks to withholding differences, is going to go up $6,000,” Flood said. “That their take-home pay is going to go up $10,300. And they’re also going to notice there’s no tax on overtime, there’s no tax on tips, and there’s no tax on Social Security. And that’s the law.”
Flood also spoke about his efforts to curb spending through rescission in the same package, which was the topic of a heated discussion at town hall events last year.
“I voted for the first real rescission from Congress to cut wasteful spending,” Flood said. “You stand in front of people, and you say, ‘We can’t afford that.’ It turns out that not everybody wants to hear that, but we are bending the arc for the first time. And if we can get our GDP growth to go up, we can bend the arc in spending to go down. We are turning this ship slowly, slower than I’d like, but slowly going in the right direction.”
Homes & Affordability
Flood touted his “Housing for the 21st Century Act,” which he authored and passed in the House on February 9.
“It makes it easier for cities like Omaha to use the federal money without having worthless environmental studies, without having worthless requirements that just cost more money and compliance,” Flood said. “We increased the affordable housing income, lower income, affordable housing tax credit to the tune of 1.2 million units. So cities, communities, housing agencies, you’re going to see more resources, less compliance, and hopefully lower rates.”
Voter ID
Flood also touted the “SAVE America Act,” which passed out of the House on February 11 and would add new requirements for proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
“If you listen to my Democratic colleagues. They would have you think that the sky is falling down because you might have to show an ID at your polling place.”
Brinker Harding, running for Congress in District 2, introduced Flood at his kickoff, praising him for his vote on the bill in the House. “Before we even had to show an ID, I would put my ID down on the table and get blank stares from the people registering you to vote,” Harding said. “But it’s amazing to me that that can be a controversial issue.”
ICE Protests & the Border
Also passed in the One Big Beautiful Bill omnibus package was an appropriation for $46.5 billion in border security. Flood credited this funding for border crossings dropping to a 50-year all-time low. He also criticized Democrats for their attacks on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“They want to shut down the government over their concerns with ICE, except that we already funded ICE enforcement through 2029,” Flood said. “All they’re doing is hurting child porn investigations. They’re hurting FEMA. They’re hurting agencies like the Coast Guard, which is doing drug interdiction. They’re hurting our TSA agents at the airports, and they’re using them as a bargaining chip, trying to sell to their base that they are being tough on Republicans.”
After the event, Flood spoke with The Plains Sentinel about his thoughts on recent student walkouts, protesting against ICE, including one that happened a few miles away near Papillion-La Vista High School on February 6.
“There’s a right way to protest in a wrong way, and these students are choosing to leave school during instruction hours,” Flood said. “They can do it on Saturday, they can do it on Sunday, they can do it after school. … These students need to understand that the community is paying for them to get this education. It’s a wonderful thing. Take advantage of it and do your protesting on your own time.”
— Matt Johnson is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel.
