Mike Flood (politician)


Michael J. Flood is a broadcaster and lawyer from Norfolk, Nebraska who served in the Nebraska Legislature from 2005 to 2013. He served as Speaker of the Legislature from 2007 to 2013.

Personal life

In 1993, he graduated from Norfolk Catholic High School in Norfolk, Nebraska. He received a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame in 1997, and a J.D. from the University of Nebraska College of Law in 2001. In 2003, he married Mandi Guernsey; as of 2011, the couple had two children.
Flood worked at a Norfolk radio station in high school. At Notre Dame, he operated, and hosted a show on, the campus's radio station. Upon his return to Nebraska, he worked as a radio personality at Lincoln country station KFGE. In 1999, he founded Flood Communications; as of 2017, he owned eight radio stations and seven television stations in Nebraska. The television stations are affiliated with the News Channel Nebraska in-state television network.

State legislature

In 2004, Flood ran for a seat in the Nebraska Legislature, 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.
Flood left the Nebraska Legislature in 2013 due to term limits. He initially announced that he would run for governor in 2014, but then bowed out of the race in December 2012 after his wife's breast cancer diagnosis.
In August 2019, Flood announced he would restand for office for the 2020 cycle in the 19th district, replacing Jim Scheer who is termed out. Nebraska term limits only restrict consecutive terms.