Loading this candidate’s profile from the FEC filings and campaign records.
Where They Stand is a nonpartisan guide to everyone running for Congress: their money, their own words and how incumbents voted. Find your ballot →
Candidates › NE-01 race › 2025–2026
Chris Backemeyer
D Democratic nominee for U.S. House, NE-01
Has not served in Congress
- On the ballot
- Lost the general electionNov 3, 2026 · 108,538 votes (45.0%) · 2 of 4
- Where to vote
- Find your polling place (opens in a new tab) · More ways to vote
- Top priorities
- Making Healthcare Affordable & Accessible
- Smart, Fair Immigration and a Secure Border
- Restoring American Leadership & National Security
- Supporting Agriculture & Rural Communities
- Lowering Costs & Restoring the Middle Class
- Money
- $1.2M raised, $799.4K spent, $355.2K cash on hand (through Oct 14, 2026). Where it comes from
- Who gives
- 21% of individual money from donors at $200 or less · 47% from Nebraska · largest committee giver WAY BACK PAC, $10K
- Outside groups
- $276.6K supporting Backemeyer
- Backed by
- New Democrat Action Fund · Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen · Nebraska Farmers Union and 24 more. As the campaign lists them
7 priorities from backnebraska.com, in the order they are listed there. Every heading and the text under it is copied exactly, as one passage for each page it is from, and links to that place on the page; hover a source to see which passage it opens.
We spend twice as much on healthcare as other developed countries — yet too many Nebraskans can’t see a doctor or afford a prescription. We are the only industrialized nation without universal healthcare.
The Affordable Care Act moved us forward, but we need to go further. We can achieve universal coverage with common sense reforms
My priorities include:
- Enact a true public option to guarantee universal coverage and force insurance companies to compete by offering lower prices and better coverage
- Extend the ACA premium tax credits to lower monthly costs for millions of families.
- Restore Medicaid funding and protect rural hospitals
- Lower the Medicare eligibility age to 60
- Take on Big Pharma to lower prescription drug costs
- Protect a woman’s right to choose in Nebraska and nationwide
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · backnebraska.com/making-healthcare-affordable-accessible
Congress has failed time and again to fix our broken immigration system because of partisan gridlock. That failure has real consequences for businesses that need workers, families who live in fear of separation, and communities seeking stability and growth. I will work to repair our immigration system, uphold our values, and fight for comprehensive reform that is fair, humane, and effective.
My priorities include:
- Claw back nearly $75 billion in excess funding from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and prohibit the use of any federal funds to detain children
- Ensure strong security at the southern border while enforcing immigration laws in ways that reflect our values and are consistent with the U.S. Constitution
- Pass comprehensive immigration reform that creates a genuine pathway to citizenship and keeps families together
- Refocus Department of Homeland Security on its core mission by limiting unilateral expansions of detention facilities and restricting operations to the enforcement of immigration law
- Reform the current agriculture workforce system to better support hardworking farmworkers and family farmers, ranchers, and producers
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · backnebraska.com/smart-fair-immigration-and-a-secure-border
Nebraska’s First District is home to Offutt Air Force Base, U.S. Strategic Command, and thousands of servicemembers, veterans, and military families. National security is not abstract here — it’s personal.
With 21 years of national security experience, I am the most qualified candidate in this race to strengthen America’s security and protect our interests abroad.
My priorities include:
- Maintain a strong national defense to deter threats, protect U.S. interests, and ensure global security
- Strengthen our international alliances through principled diplomacy
- Avoid forever wars by reasserting Congressional war powers to authorize military actions and prevent unilateral presidential war-making
- Reverse harmful cuts to the VA so veterans receive the disability services, mental health care, and timely claims processing they have earned
- Expand veteran entrepreneurship programs, strengthen veteran hiring initiatives, and increase housing assistance so veterans and their families can put down roots in Nebraska
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · backnebraska.com/restoring-american-leadership-national-security
Nebraska’s prosperity depends on a strong, resilient rural economy. But political fights, reckless trade decisions, and corporate consolidation have pushed family farms to the brink and hollowed out rural communities. Protecting Nebraska’s future means strengthening the agricultural roots of our state and giving rural communities the tools to grow and prosper.
My priorities include:
- End the tariff chaos that harms farmers and raises consumer costs
- Pass a long-term, bipartisan Farm Bill that is updated to reflect the current demands of family farms
- Expand markets for biofuels, including through permanent, year-long sales of E15
- Break up agribusiness monopolies that squeeze family farms and prevent competitive markets
- Fight for fair trade policies that allow U.S. producers to compete globally
- Expand rural broadband so every community can thrive in the 21st century
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · backnebraska.com/supporting-agriculture-rural-communities
What keeps me up at night is what keeps so many Nebraska families up at night: the skyrocketing cost of living. Housing, healthcare, childcare — all slipping out of reach. And saving for the future? Nearly impossible.
We need an economy that works for the people who make it run, not just those at the top. That means tackling prices where families feel it most and rebuilding a true middle class.
My priorities include:
- Roll back tariffs that are hurting Nebraska’s farmers and driving up costs for producers and consumers
- Expand the Child Tax Credit to put more money back in families’ pockets
- Rebalance the tax code so that billionaires and corporations pay their fair share
- Cut red tape that delays housing projects and puts families in houses instead of investment firms
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · backnebraska.com/lowering-costs-restoring-the-middle-class
Washington has become a place where too many politicians serve themselves instead of the people. We need real reforms to restore trust and protect our democracy.
My priorities include:
- Enact term limits for members of Congress and the judiciary branch
- Establish mandatory retirement age for the president, members of Congress, and the judiciary
- Ban stock trading by members of Congress
- Overturn Citizens United and end dark money in politics
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · backnebraska.com/ending-washington-dysfunction
For years, Washington politicians have used the national debt as a talking point — except when it comes to endless wars or tax breaks for billionaires. The result? A crushing burden on future generations.
We’ve spent $4 trillion in the last decade on interest alone. With that money, we could have fully funded every K–12 public school for five years, connected every rural community with broadband, or rebuilt every major road and bridge.
Instead, we owe much of it to foreign creditors like China.
We can do great things for our country — but only if we stop mortgaging our kids’ futures for billionaire tax cuts.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · backnebraska.com/reining-in-our-national-debt