Why Nebraska U.S. Rep. Mike Flood holds town halls when GOP colleagues don't [View all]

[Omaha Steve]

The booing might be the point, as Democratic anger pleases some in his Republican base
By: Juan Salinas II - August 8, 2025 5:15 am


U.S. Rep Mike Flood, R-Neb., speaks during his town hall in Lincoln on Aug 4. 2025. (Juan Salinas II/Nebraska Examiner)

LINCOLN — Nebraska Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Flood faced a hostile crowd at a concert hall this week in his district’s most Democratic city, Lincoln.

Flood’s third and final town hall of the year drew national headlines and eyes on social media sites including X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok for the reception he received. Attendees jeered him as he defended voting for President Donald Trump’s budget and tax bill the president calls “big” and “beautiful.” Flood was asked how much it cost to be a “fascist” and faced chants of “vote him out” and “tax the rich” throughout the 90-minute affair.

The national attention — particularly online, where voters increasingly get their news — might have been the point. Flood is a modern rarity among congressional Republicans, one who faces the electorate without pre-screening the crowd. He is the last among Nebraska’s all-GOP delegation to host town halls that way.

Dona-Gene Barton, a political science professor who studies political behavior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, described the town hall as an opportunity for Flood, an attorney and former speaker of the Legislature from Norfolk, to showcase his debate skills. Flood also owns TV and radio news stations, so he is no stranger to a microphone.

FULL story: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/08/08/why-nebraska-u-s-rep-mike-flood-holds-town-halls-when-gop-colleagues-dont/