A year and a half ago, I testified before a Unicameral Committee when they held a public hearing on making Nebraska a winner-take-all state. Donald Trump, Jim Pillen, and the Republican Party in general want to make Nebraska like 48 other states and stop dividing our Electoral College votes by district.

The hearing was packed. Most of those who came to testify, as you might imagine, were Democrats from Eastern Nebraska. I’m a registered independent and testified that getting rid of the so-called “Blue Dot” would not only make the state irrelevant during presidential elections but would take away presidential campaign revenue from the state and silence the voice of thousands of Nebraska voters. I testified that I believed that all states should do what Nebraska and Maine do. It would let Republican voters in California, or Democratic voters in Alabama, have their votes be more relevant as well.

But I digress.

It turns out that Democrats weren’t the only ones concerned with thousands of Nebraska voters losing their voices. So were Republicans from central and western Nebraska. Republican leaders from rural Nebraska traveled hundreds of miles to show their concern that the growth of Omaha and Lincoln could one day suppress their vote out west and turn the Cornhusker state from red to blue.

Their concerns may be warranted. For the first time in two decades, the national Democrats are taking a serious look at more than just the Second Congressional District to send their party members to the House. Mike Flood and the First Congressional District have captured the attention of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

The DCCC is adding the district to its Districts-in-Play program. The Democratic leaders are thinking that maybe with an unpopular war, rising inflation, and an administration that can’t stop explosive diarrhea, the Lincoln-centric district might just elect Democratic nominee Chris Backemeyer. While Mike Flood is still the favorite to win reelection, the Dems are thinking that it’s far from a done deal.

This doesn’t mean that national money is going to be flooding into the first district. (No pun intended.) The Districts-in-Play program is the first step before getting on the Red to Blue list that Denise Powell is on. Being on the Democrats’ Districts-in-Play program just means the race has their attention. But if Beckemeyer’s numbers continue to grow, he may get added financial and organizational help from Hakeem Jeffries and the national Dems.

And he would need it, because Mike Flood has substantially more money than Beckemeyer. However, only 1.5% of Flood’s 2.4 million dollars cash on hand comes from small donations. The majority are from big money donors. On the other hand, 17% of Beckemeyer’s 592 million dollars in campaign cash comes from small donors. Those small donors are more likely to be able to vote for Beckemeyer. The big cash donations that Flood has accumulated have most likely come from out-of-state donors or big corporations who aren’t eligible Nebraska voters.

I don’t want to make this a bigger deal than it is. As I said, Flood still has the power of incumbency, and the polling is on his side. But I’ve been to his town hall meetings. They are well attended by voters who are not pleased at all with the way the congressman bows down to President Trump. The crowd boos when Flood defends unpopular policies like the SAVE Act or the so-called Big Beautiful Bill. Booing people at a town hall meeting are motivated to vote.

Nebraska really is two states. The needs, wants, and interests of the people living in the more urban areas like Omaha and Lincoln are substantially different than the needs, wants, and interests of the rural areas. The urban areas are growing and tend to be more liberal than the folks in places like Murdock or Norfolk.

Which is why the DCCC is saying that Nebraska’s First District might just be in play this year.

Personally, I don’t think that will happen, at least not during this go-round.

But if things keep going the way they are, the concerns of rural Nebraskans about making us a winner-take-all state and turning our inaugural college vote from red to blue might very well be justified.

Tom Becka is a long time Nebraska broadcaster who for over 30 years has been covering Omaha and Midwest issues on both radio and TV. He has been a guest on numerous national cable and news shows, filled in for nationally syndicated talk radio programs and Talkers Magazine has recognized him as one of the Top 100 talk show hosts in the country 10 times. Never afraid to ruffle some feathers, his ‘Becka’s Beat’ commentaries can be found online on Youtube and other digital platforms.

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