# Rep. Flood holds contentious town hall amid challenging 2026 midterm race **Published:** 2026-06-01T10:30:12.000Z **Source:** [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/06/01/nebraska-u-s-rep-mike-flood-is-still-doing-town-halls-in-2026-and-facing-hostile-crowds-why/) **AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) **Canonical:** https://lincolne.news/article/rep-flood-holds-contentious-town-hall-amid-challenging-2026-midterm-race LINCOLN, Neb. — U.S. Rep. Mike Flood faced boos, jeers and pointed questions about medical marijuana, the economy and President Donald Trump's policies during a town hall in his northeast Nebraska hometown last month, drawing approximately 200 constituents to the event, according to reporting from the [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/06/01/nebraska-u-s-rep-mike-flood-is-still-doing-town-halls-in-2026-and-facing-hostile-crowds-why/). The May 26 gathering in Norfolk marked another contentious engagement for the Republican congressman, who has continued holding public town halls even as many GOP colleagues have abandoned the format during an election year when national Republican momentum faces headwinds. Flood said he believes direct engagement with constituents is essential to governance, despite the hostile environment. "Nothing gets better if we're not talking to each other," Flood told the Examiner before the event, adding that holding town halls is "part of the job." He noted that while some constituents lose their composure, most attend seeking substantive answers. [Flood is seeking his third full term representing Nebraska's 1st Congressional District](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections_in_Nebraska), which includes Lincoln, Norfolk, Fremont and surrounding areas. [The general election is scheduled for November 3, 2026](https://ballotpedia.org/Nebraska). During the Norfolk town hall, attendees asked Flood about his position on federal support for voter-legalized medical marijuana in Nebraska, Trump's "anti-weaponization" fund, economic conditions and the recent release of documents related to financier Jeffrey Epstein. One constituent, Nathan Brown, directly challenged Flood's characterization of marijuana as medicine. Flood responded firmly, saying "weed is not medicine" and predicting that voters would regret the state's decision to legalize it. Flood drew applause and criticism for stating he would not allocate "one penny" from Trump's "anti-weaponization" fund to January 6 insurrectionists, signaling daylight between himself and the president on certain matters. The congressman emphasized his bipartisan legislative work, highlighting a housing bill that passed the House 390-9 in February aimed at addressing affordability concerns. He focused less on Trump's tax and spending legislation, the "One Big Beautiful Bill," than he did during a 2025 Lincoln town hall, suggesting shifting campaign messaging midway through the election cycle. Flood noted that his district includes heavily Democratic-voting Lincoln in Lancaster County, though the region's more conservative rural areas have historically given him strong support. He [became chair of the House GOP's Main Street Caucus](https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/es/news/news-articles/nebraska-congressman-named-head-of-main-street-caucus/) last year, a group with more than 80 members focused on pragmatic solutions. While his seat is considered safely Republican by nonpartisan analysts, [his Democratic opponent Chris Backemeyer](https://5newsonline.com/article/chris-backemeyer-former-diplomat-runs-for-congress-in-nebraska-district-1/), a former diplomat, has highlighted polling suggesting a closer race. Backemeyer set up a table outside the Norfolk town hall to discuss constituents' concerns about rising costs, which he attributed to Trump administration tariff policies that Flood supported. Flood won his past two elections by 20 and 16 percentage points respectively, establishing himself as a safe incumbent despite the broader national midterm environment typically challenging the party in power. ## Sources - [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/06/01/nebraska-u-s-rep-mike-flood-is-still-doing-town-halls-in-2026-and-facing-hostile-crowds-why/) - [Wikipedia: 2026 United States House of Representatives elections in Nebraska](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections_in_Nebraska) - [Ballotpedia: Nebraska's 1st Congressional District election, 2026](https://ballotpedia.org/Nebraska's_1st_Congressional_District_election,_2026) - [Nebraska Public Media: Flood named head of Main Street Caucus](https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/es/news/news-articles/nebraska-congressman-named-head-of-main-street-caucus/) --- This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from Nebraska Examiner, enriched with 2 web searches. The original source is available at https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/06/01/nebraska-u-s-rep-mike-flood-is-still-doing-town-halls-in-2026-and-facing-hostile-crowds-why/.