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Progressive journalist Austin Ahlman announced he is running for Congress in Nebraska’s first congressional district as a nonpartisan independent on Thursday, challenging incumbent Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., and Democratic nominee Chris Backemeyer.
Ahlman, a journalist for the progressive left-wing outlet The Intercept, entered the fray Thursday, two days after his opponents advanced in 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 Advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris on national security and policy issues.
Ahlman criticized Backemeyer as a “creature of the establishment in D.C.” and said he didn’t see much of a difference between the Democrat and Flood.
FROM NEBRASKA TO WEST VIRGINIA TO NEW JERSEY: PRIMARY CLASHES SET STAGE FOR FIERCE MIDTERM FIGHT
Chris Backemeyer’s State Department portrait. Backemeyer is running as a Democrat in the race to represent Nebraska’s First Congressional District. (United States Department of State)
“I have taken on the corporations that are actually hollowing out our state. I have uncovered the corruption among the politicians that are crushing us and selling us out. And I don’t think that either one of the two can say that,” Ahlman told the Lincoln Journal Star.
“I think that they have just been a part of the system. They are the establishment, and I am not that. 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 First Congressional District. (Austin Ahlman For Congress)
After winning his 2022 special election by a five-point margin, Flood won both of his general elections by a comfortable margin. He won by 15 points in the 2022 general election and by more than 20 point in 2024….
