FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 21, 2026
CONTACT: Campaign@BackNebraska.com
BREAKING: Another Outside Poll Shows the Race for NE-01 is a Dead Heat
Lincoln — With less than two weeks until Election Day, another poll shows fifth-generation Nebraskan and national security expert Chris Backemeyer in a dead heat with incumbent Rep. Mike Flood, the latest sign that Flood is vulnerable in Nebraska’s First District.
The poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling from October 19-20, shows Backemeyer one point behind Flood, 45% to 46%. In a memo released this morning, HMP named NE-01 as one of the 13 pickup opportunities beyond the traditional battleground.
“Mike Flood has voted with Trump 95% of the time, choosing party loyalty over the needs of Nebraska families,” said Chris Backemeyer. “His record is clear: tariffs that drive up costs, support for a reckless war in Iran, cuts to health care, and tax breaks for billionaires. While working families struggle to afford groceries, gas, and health care, Flood keeps backing an agenda that makes life harder and more expensive. I’m running to lower costs, protect health care, and put Nebraskans first, not party bosses in Washington.”
Today’s poll comes after a recent outside poll by Global Strategy Group found Backemeyer up four points head-to-head, and leading by one point when third-party candidates are included.
Yesterday, one of the nation’s leading race raters, Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball, upgraded Nebraska’s First District from “Solid Republican” to “Likely Republican.” Last week, two of the nation’s leading race raters, Inside Elections and Cook Political Report, also upgraded the race in Backemeyer’s direction.
In August, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) added NE-01 to its “Districts in Play” list, the first time the district has appeared on it in 20 years.
Backemeyer is on the air with a six-figure TV and digital ad buy highlighting Flood’s unrelenting support for reckless tariff policies that are raising prices and hurting farmers, and for the Iran War, which is raising fuel prices, adding $1 billion a day to the national debt, and putting the country at greater security risk.
Watch the ad here.
About Chris
For more than two decades, Chris served at the highest levels of national security and economic policy in the U.S. Department of State and the White House National Security Council. Now, he’s running for Congress to serve the state that shaped him, fighting for working families, expanding opportunity, and building a better future for all Nebraskans.
To learn more about Chris and his campaign, please visit www.BackNebraska.com.
For a high-resolution headshot of Chris, please click here.
