Michael John Flood (born February 23, 1975) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician serving as the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

for

Nebraska's 1st congressional district Nebraska's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Nebraska that encompasses most of its eastern quarter, except for Omaha and some of its suburbs, which are part of the 2nd congressional district. It include ...

since July 2022. He previously served two stints as a member of the

Nebraska Legislature The Nebraska Legislature (also called the Unicameral) is the legislature of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The Legislature meets at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln. With 49 members, known as "senators", the Nebraska Legislature is the sm ...

from the 19th district, from 2005 to 2013 and 2021 to 2022. He served as speaker of the Legislature from 2007 to 2013.

Early life and education

Born in Omaha, Flood was raised in

Norfolk, Nebraska Norfolk ( or ) is a city in Madison County, Nebraska, United States, 113 miles northwest of Omaha and 83 miles west of Sioux City at the intersection of U.S. Routes 81 and 275. The population was 24,210 at the 2010 census, making it the ninth ...

. In 1993, he graduated from Norfolk Catholic High School in

. He received a Bachelor of Arts from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

in 1997 and a Juris Doctor from the

University of Nebraska College of Law The University of Nebraska College of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of University of Nebraska system. It was founded in 1888 and became part of University of Nebraska in 1891. According to Nebraska's official 2017 ABA-required d ...

in 2001.

Career

Flood worked at a Norfolk radio station in high school. At the University of Notre Dame, he operated and hosted a show on the campus's radio station. After graduation, he worked as "Sideshow Mike" on

WBYT WBYT (100.7 FM) is a radio station licensed to Elkhart, Indiana, United States, the station serves the Michiana region. The station airs a country music format and is currently owned by Pathfinder Communications Corporation. WBYT is licensed to ...

's morning show for a year. Upon his return to Nebraska, he worked as a radio personality at

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

-based country station

KFGE KFGE (98.1 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a country music format licensed to Milford, Nebraska, United States. The station serves the Lincoln area. Studios are located at Broadcast House at 44th Street and East O Street in Lincoln, while i ...

. In 1999, during his second year of law school, he launched

KUSO ''Kuso'' is a term used in East Asia for the internet culture that generally includes all types of camp and parody. In Japanese, is a word that is commonly translated to English as curse words such as fuck, shit, damn, and bullshit, and is ...

as the first station in what would become Flood Communications. As of 2022, he owned eight radio stations and seven television stations in Nebraska. In 2015, Flood founded the

News Channel Nebraska News Channel Nebraska (NCN) is an independent, in-state network of commercial radio and television stations in the U.S. state of Nebraska and Sioux City. It is operated by Flood Communications LLC, which was founded by attorney, businessman and ...

network, which all television and radio stations participate in. NCN is Nebraska's only 24-hour

news channel News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or telev ...

. Flood no longer solely owns the stations but sold portions of the company to in-state investors. In addition to being the operator of News Channel Nebraska, he was on-air talent, acting as a news reporter and hosting the

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp ...

''Quarantine Tonight'' during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Flood is also a named partner in Norfolk-based law firm, Jewell Collins & Flood.

Nebraska Legislature

In 2004, Flood ran for a seat in the

, representing the 19th legislative district, which was coterminous with Madison County and included Norfolk. The incumbent, Gene Tyson, was retiring; Flood ran unopposed for the seat. In 2010, he was named to ''Time'''s "40 Under 40" list as one of the rising stars in American politics. Flood left the Nebraska Legislature in 2013 due to term limits. He initially announced that he would run for

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

in 2014, but then withdrew out of the race in December 2012 after his wife's breast cancer diagnosis. In August 2019, Flood announced he would re-run for office for the 2020 cycle in the 19th district, replacing Jim Scheer who was termed out. Nebraska term limits only restrict consecutive terms. He was unopposed in the 2020 election, and returned to the Legislature for the 2021 legislative session.

U. S. House of Representatives

Elections

2022 special election

On January 16, 2022, Flood announced his candidacy in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Nebraska, challenging the incumbent Republican Jeff Fortenberry to represent

. Fortenberry resigned from office on March 31, 2022, following a felony conviction. Fortenberry's resignation necessitated a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

, for which the Nebraska Republican Party selected Flood as its nominee. He faced Democratic nominee Patty Pansing Brooks in the election, which he won by a narrower than expected margin.

2022

Flood won reelection in November against Democratic nominee Patty Pansing Brooks, who he also beat in the June 28, 2022 special election. He won 58% to 42%.

Tenure

Flood was sworn into office by

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

Nancy Pelosi on July 12, 2022. On August 12, 2022, Flood voted against the

Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) is a landmark United States federal law which aims to curb inflation by reducing the deficit, lowering prescription drug prices, and investing into domestic energy production while promoting clean en ...

References

External links

House websiteCampaign website
* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Flood, Mike 1975 births Living people Nebraska state senators Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Nebraska Speakers of the Nebraska Legislature University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni University of Notre Dame alumni