Nebraska Rep. Mike Flood repeatedly linked his Democratic challenger to Vice President Kamala Harris during a televised debate Sunday afternoon between the two candidates vying to represent the state’s 1st Congressional District.
First District Republican incumbent Mike Flood (left) and Democratic challenger Carol Blood debate on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at Nebraska Public Media.
JUSTIN WAN, LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR
Meanwhile, Carol Blood, a state senator and former Bellevue city councilwoman who is seeking to unseat the Republican from Norfolk, distanced herself from the Democratic presidential nominee and party labels at large, decrying the hyper-partisanship that she said has plagued Congress for decades.
The debate, broadcast live on Nebraska Public Media from the public broadcaster’s studio on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s East Campus, offered a window into the starkly different views the two candidates hold on numerous issues — and into the political realities of the 1st District.
Flood, who is seeking his second full term representing the district he won by more than 35,000 votes in 2022, leaned into his status as a House Republican, warning that “the Democratic Party has never been more united in its extremism” and calling Blood a would-be “rubber-stamp for the Democrats in Washington.”
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Blood, who is trying to become the first Democrat elected to represent the district since 1964, countered that Flood’s own remarks were evidence for “why you should vote for me. Because the hyper-partisanship is strong.
“I am not identified by a party, but Congressman Flood clearly is,” she said.
The rhetorical jabs came amid closing statements at the end of Sunday’s hourlong debate, the only one scheduled between the two candidates vying to represent the state’s 1st Congressional District, which encompasses Lancaster, Madison, Cass, Seward, Butler, Dodge, Colfax, Stanton, Cuming, Platte, Stanton and the eastern parts of Sarpy and Polk counties.
The two were given 60 seconds each — and occasional rebuttal periods — to address a host of questions prepared by local media outlets, including over abortion access, immigration, gun violence and national security.
No federal role in abortion?
Facing a question over what role the federal government should play in restricting access to abortion, Flood, a former state lawmaker who was for years the speaker of the Nebraska Legislature, heralded the 2022 overturning of Roe V. Wade for leaving the issue in the hands of state lawmakers.
Flood took credit for the state’s 20-week abortion ban the Legislature replaced last year with a 12-week ban, which Flood said Sunday he also supports.
He said he signed a petition this summer in support of a conservative-backed effort to enshrine the 12-week ban into Nebraska’s constitution — but said little about the federal government’s potential role in regulating the procedure.
“I think it’s important to note, as it relates to federal legislation, it’s hard to comment on something that we have not seen,” he said. “But I want to tell you, I am pro-life, as opposed to my opponent, who has voted against banning dismemberment abortions. I am in the mainstream with Americans on this. She is in the extreme because she supports abortion up to and before the day of birth.”
Blood, in response, called Flood’s remarks a “scare tactic” and reframed the question as a “health care issue.” She warned of the impacts a “patchwork of laws” governing abortion access could have.
“Here’s what I believe: I believe in freedom,” she said. “I trust women to make these important decisions. I don’t trust male politicians to make these decisions because they are not doctors.”
Blood, like Flood, did not outline any plan for federal regulation of abortion.
Immigration blame game
After moderators asked both candidates what their own party should do better to address immigration policy, Blood objected to the partisan framing of the question and quickly placed the blame on Congress at large, which she accused of being “unable to pass a long-term budget to fund the resources.”
First District Congressional Republican incumbent Mike Flood (left) and Democratic challenger Carol Blood debate Sunday at Nebraska Public Media’s studios in Lincoln.
JUSTIN WAN, LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR
“They’re not listening to the boots on the ground and instead, they’re creating boogeymen, creating fear and putting out misinformation,” she said, calling for an increase in funding for border security and immigration judges to address the backlog of pending immigration cases.
Flood, who voted last year to send the bipartisan immigration legislation to the Senate where it was killed by the GOP at the direction of former President Donald Trump, made no mention of the failed effort as he reflected on what his party could do differently to address immigration.
Instead, Flood accused Harris — and, through her, Blood — of “support(ing) amnesty for illegal immigrants.”
“At the end of the day, that’s not where Americans are,” Flood said, later calling for his own party to make Trump’s remain-in-Mexico-policy “the law of the land.”
Terrorism, China top security threats
In response to a question over what — or who — poses the greatest threat to the country’s national security, Blood quipped: “I think that’s a very long list.”
At the top of the state lawmaker’s list, though, was agriculture-based terrorism, she said.
“We know that we have not made any movement forward to protect our environment, to protect our farmers, to protect our water sources,” she said.
Blood named Russia as the nation’s top foreign adversary, warning that the U.S. must “stay on the stage where we show that we are powerful and that we have a military that will respond as necessary.”
Flood offered an alternative top adversary: China.
“China is the biggest threat to the superpower status of the United States,” he said. “They now have a navy bigger than ours. They are building a nuclear triad bigger than the one we have today. They wake up every single day and use espionage and cyberattacks to target Americans.”
He agreed that Russia “is a problem” but said that the country’s economy is comparable to that of the state of Texas.
“China is a juggernaut — and they want the end of America,” Flood said.
You can watch the full debate on Nebraska Public Media’s YouTube page.
Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of September 2024
Creighton’s Norah Sis (2) spikes the ball past USC’s Mia Tuaniga (91) in a college volleyball match at Sokol Arena in Omaha on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024.
CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
Creighton’s Kiara Reinhardt (5), left, embraces Kendra Wait (15) as they celebrate a point against USC in a college volleyball match at Sokol Arena in Omaha on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024.
CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
Creighton’s Kendra Wait (15), left, and Elise Goetzinger (13) try to block the ball against USC in a college volleyball match at Sokol Arena in Omaha on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024.
CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
Craig Dykers, Snøhetta architect, talks about the space outside The Phillip G. Schrager Collection at The Joslyn in Omaha on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024.
NIKOS FRAZIER, THE WORLD-HERALD
Sunlight shines through windows inside The Joslyn in Omaha on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024.
NIKOS FRAZIER, THE WORLD-HERALD
Nebraska’s Bergen Reilly (2) and Andi Jackson (15) go up to block against Citadel’s Ali Ruffin (18) during the first set of a college volleyball match at the Devaney Center in Lincoln on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024.
NIKOS FRAZIER, THE WORLD-HERALD
Elkhorn North’s Leah Robinson runs during the Platte River Rumble at Eugene T. Mahoney State Park in Ashland on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024.
CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
A large cluster of runners starts close together at the start of the Large School Varsity boys 5k in the Platte River Rumble at Eugene T. Mahoney State Park in Ashland on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024.
CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
A large cluster of runners starts close together at the start of the Large School Varsity Boys 5k in the Platte River Rumble at Eugene T. Mahoney State Park in Ashland on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024.
CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
Liana Pendley, of Plattsmouth, Neb., carries red balloons prior to a college football game between the Nebraska Huskers and the Colorado Buffaloes in Lincoln, on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024.
LIZ RYMAREV, THE WORLD-HERALD
The Nebraska Cornhusker Marching Band line up before a college football game between the Nebraska Huskers and the Colorado Buffaloes in Lincoln, on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024.
LIZ RYMAREV, THE WORLD-HERALD
Nebraska’s Dante Dowdell (23) jumps over Colorado’s Shilo Sanders (21) with the ball during the first half of a college football game at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024.
LIZ RYMAREV, THE WORLD-HERALD
Reach the writer at 402-473-7223 or [email protected]. On Twitter @andrewwegley
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