Nebraska State Senator Mike Flood says he has raised more than $400,000 in the two weeks since he announced he’s challenging 9-term 1st District Congressman Jeff Fortenberry in the Republican primary.
Flood, a broadcast executive whose holdings include radio stations across the state and the cable News Channel Nebraska, launched his campaign on Jan. 16 in the wake of federal charges being filed against Fortenberry for lying to federal investigators.
He says he got in the race to make sure the GOP didn’t lose the congressional seat and that his early fundraising success shows Nebraskans “aren’t willing to gamble on the outcome of Fortenberry’s criminal trial.”
Flood kicked off his campaign with endorsements from current Governor Pete Ricketts and former governor Dave Heineman.
Fortenberry had raised $465,000 with $897,000 cash-on-hand in the most recent filing period that ended in September, before he was charged with misleading agents investigating an illegal, 2016 campaign contribution from a foreign national.