By ASSOCIATED PRESS
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Republican state Sen. Mike Flood will officially join the U.S. House on Tuesday when he's sworn in to fill the seat of disgraced former U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry.
Flood will take his oath of office at the U.S. Capitol.
Flood, a former speaker of the Nebraska Legislature, defeated Democrat Patty Pansing Brooks in a special election to represent the state's 1st Congressional District, which includes Lincoln and dozens of smaller communities.
Fortenberry, a Republican, resigned in March shortly after a California jury found him guilty of charges that he lied to federal investigators about $30,000 in illegal campaign contributions from a Nigerian billionaire. He was sentenced to probation and fined.
Flood will hold the seat until at least January, for what would have been the rest of Fortenberry's term. He'll face Pansing Brooks again in the November general election to determine who serves the next full term.