Nebraska’s delegation comes together at the Annual Federal Legislative Summit

ASHLAND, Neb. (KLKN) — Nebraska’s delegation took to Ashland on Wednesday to talk about some of the issues they’re hearing most about from Nebraskans.

Instead of sticking to the usual talking points, Channel 8 asked Congressman Mike Flood, Congressman Adrian Smith and Senator Pete Ricketts a few questions designed to get to the point.

With the National Democratic Party pouring some money into backing democratic candidates, we wanted to know how Rep. Flood feels about the upcoming election.

“There’s a lot of excitement on the left,” he said. “They’re trying to deflect the conversation from the socialists that want to shut down prisons and get rid of the Thanksgiving holiday, troll the means of production with these grocery stores. Ultimately, all the major outlets that predict elections say this is solidly Republican and that I am going to win. Regardless, I’ve won by 16-20 points in the past.”

Recently, the Nebraska Republican Party filed a lawsuit to block the America First Party, which had previously received approval to appear on November’s ballot from Secretary of State Bob Evnen.

Senator Pete Ricketts responded to how he feels about the new party.

“I will let the Nebraska Republican Party handle that,” he said. “Obviously, the America First party has a Democrat who used to work on Dan Osborn’s campaign as it’s chief legal counsel. I think you can see it’s probably a fake party.”

A new farm bill is also on hold. It has not been updated in eight years as both side can’t agree on cuts to SNAP benefits.

Congressman Adrian Smith detailed why getting it done is so important for Nebraskans, especially right now.

“I’m strategizing in my mind what we need to do to get this done,” he said. “A five-year Farm Bill is important. Here we are with a significant drought in western Nebraska. And then the fires that impact the livestock production. We already have a 75-year low on the inventory on cattle across America.”

We reached out to the Nebraska Democratic Party for a response to each of the senator and representative’s answers:

“Nebraska Republicans take Nebraska voters for granted. Mike Flood can predict all he wants, but we know he’s concerned that Nebraska’s First Congressional District has now been targeted by National Democrats who will support Chris Backemeyer. Pete Ricketts continues to buy his elections and sow chaos in our elections with shady tactics. Neither candidate can point to any substantive legislative win that has improved the lives of Nebraskans, brought down the cost of goods and energy, or defended our democracy. The November elections will prove in our state what is happening across the country: when Republicans are removed from power, the average working family, farmer, and senior does better.”