Progressive Ahlman enters House race in Nebraska against Flood, Backemeyer

Progressive journalist Austin Ahlman announced Thursday that he is running for Congress in Nebraska’s 1st District as a nonpartisan independent, challenging incumbent Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., and Democratic candidate Chris Backemeyer.

Ahlman, a reporter for the left-leaning progressive newspaper The Intercept, entered the fray Thursday, two days after his opponents qualified for their respective primaries.

Flood has held his seat since winning a special election in 2022. Democratic challenger Backemeyer is a former State Department employee who worked in President Barack Obama’s administration and also served as a special adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris on national security and policy issues.

Ahlman criticized Backemeyer as a “creature of the Washington, D.C. establishment” and said he didn’t see much difference between the Democrat and Flood.

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State Department portrait of Chris Backemeyer. Backemeyer is running as a Democrat in the race to represent Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District. (U.S. Department of State)

“I took on the corporations that are gutting our state. I discovered the corruption among the politicians who are crushing us and betraying us. And I don’t think either of them can say that,” Ahlman told the Lincoln Journal Star.

“I think they’re just part of the system. They’re the establishment, and I’m not. I’m actually from the working class,” he said.

Austin Ahlman drinks a beer in a campaign ad. Ahlman is running an independent campaign for Congress in Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District. (Austin Ahlman for Congress)

After winning his 2022 special election by a five-point margin, Flood won his two general elections by comfortable margins. He won by 15 points in the 2022 general election and by more than 20 points in 2024. Nebraska’s First District is also a strong Republican stronghold, according to the Cook Political Report.

Cook believes it would take both “anemic” Republican turnout and strong Democratic turnout to turn the tide for Democrats in Nebraska’s 1st District. The outlook is now more complicated with Ahlman, as some Nebraska political leaders stress to the local press that the progressive candidate could split votes.

Rep. Mike Flood held a town hall meeting during the recent congressional recess. (Getty Images)

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“Mike Flood failed in this district, and splitting the vote with a third fringe candidate will not solve the problem,” Nebraska Democratic Party Chairwoman Jane Kleeb said in a statement provided to the Nebraska Examiner on Thursday. “Nebraska doesn’t need any noise from either extreme. We need a stable, experienced leader who will fight for fairness and protect our democracy. That’s Chris Backemeyer.”

Backemeyer’s campaign told the Examiner, “After winning nearly every county by a wide margin in the primary, Chris is focused on defeating Congressman Flood to end Trump’s tariffs, devastating health care cuts and illegal warfare that are harming Nebraskans.”

Meanwhile, Flood’s team has highlighted the independent challenge as a weakness in the Democratic Party, saying Ahlman is “trying to sabotage a Kamala Harris adviser’s campaign because the Democratic Party is in shambles.”

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“While Backemeyer and Ahlman argue over which D.C. transplant will finish second, Congressman Flood will continue to get things done for Nebraskans,” Flood spokesman Daniel Bass told the Examiner.

Fox News Digital has contacted the Ahlman, Backemeyer and Flood campaigns for additional comment.