Norfolk, Nebraska - A new independent candidate is shaking up the race to represent Nebraska's first congressional district in the US House.

"I saw my parents break their backs every day on the meatpacking line to provide for me and my siblings. I was only eight when Tyson shuttered the Norfolk plant, so I learned young what big corporations do to towns like ours: they strip them bare and leave them for dead," Austin Ahlman says in a campaign announcement video posted to social media on Thursday.

Ahlman is a 28-year-old investigative reporter who characterizes himself as an "anti-monopoly crusader."

His video describes struggles his family has faced since the 2006 closure of the Tyson Foods plant.

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Over the last year, Ahlman moved back in to take care of his father with cancer while assisting his grandmother, who he says was "getting cheated by utility and insurance companies."

Ahlman's mother also died by suicide earlier this year after her employer collapsed.

"When she took her own life, the eviction notice was in her pocket," he says in the video.

"My family’s story isn't unique," he continues. "Families all across our state are fighting, but the only ones who seem to be getting ahead are the elites on the coasts and the politicians who are selling us out to them."

"It's time we show the billionaires in Wall Street and Silicon Valley who are pitting us against one another that we won't let them steal our way of life out from under us."

Ahlman's campaign platform calls for making billionaires and corporations pay their fair share in taxes, getting big money out of politics, expanding Medicare to cover all US citizens, and ending the Iran war. He also supports funding state and local police and protecting Second Amendment rights, among other priorities.

The independent is taking on Republican incumbent Mike Flood, who has held the seat since 2022, and Democratic nominee Chris Backemeyer, a former US State Department official.

"I'm in this to beat Mike Flood – and yes, this is personal," Ahlman posted on X. "We grew up in the same town, but Millionaire Mike's life was not like mine. I lived in trailer parks. Our whole family spent periods living in my grandmother’s basement. I went to bed hungry."

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"But last year, Millionaire Mike – who takes more than half his cash from corporate pacs and special interests – voted to hand tax cuts to big business and billionaires while gutting healthcare, education and food programs. Those callous votes show he takes voters for granted."

"Most Republicans and Democrats in this district feel frustrated with their options and the failed political establishment on both sides. They use culture wars to divide us and stop us focusing on things that would actually improve people's lives."

"I'm not a Democrat. I'm not a Republican. I'm Independent Nebraskan who wants to give folks something to vote for – not against."

Nebraska also has a popular independent candidate for US Senate in Dan Osborn. The Democratic nominee in the race, Cindy Burbank, is expected to drop out to support his bid to unseat Republican Pete Ricketts.