Michigan, Georgia and Maine each held a Senate debate on Thursday night, and the coverage describes all three as personal. In Michigan, an open seat, Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed debated for the first time. CNN reported that Rogers called El-Sayed a “con man” and questioned his medical credentials, while El-Sayed accused Rogers of cheering on the Iran war; they also clashed over tariffs and a Canada trade deal. A New York Times/Siena poll showed El-Sayed with a modest lead. In Georgia, Sen. Jon Ossoff attacked Rep. Mike Collins’s record and his devotion to Trump, and the two argued over tariffs, with NBC describing a fight over Trump-era and Biden-era policies. In Maine, Sen. Susan Collins and Troy Jackson held their second debate, sparring over the Iran war, Trump, trade and abortion; the New York Times said rising heating oil costs have put Collins on the defensive. CBS and The Washington Post reported that Obama endorsed Jackson earlier in the day.
Control of the Senate is at stake, and these three races are among the most closely watched. The debates show how Republicans are handling the Iran war and tariffs, two issues that reach voters through gasoline, heating oil and prices, and how Democrats are trying to connect them to Trump.
If you live in one of these states, the debates are a chance to hear candidates answer the same questions side by side; most outlets publish full video and transcripts. Elsewhere, they preview the national argument: affordability, tariffs and the war.
The tone is a strategy. Both sides argue that voters are tired of a failing economy and a costly war, and that personal attacks expose the other candidate’s character.
Insults crowd out specifics. Voters came to hear how each candidate would lower prices and end the war, and they got little of either.
Treat debates as a weak signal. Watch the next Michigan poll to see whether the modest El-Sayed lead holds, and watch Maine for any shift as heating bills arrive. Quotes here come from outlets we read, not from full debate video.
Guardian US · New York Times (Michigan, Georgia and Maine roundups; Siena poll) · Washington Post · NBC News · CBS News · ABC News (Maine) · The Hill · CNN (quotes) · Oct. 8–9
Three Senate debates turn personal. Candidates in Michigan, Georgia and Maine trade insults over tariffs and the Iran war
Thursday night's debates were hostile, testy and fiery, by the New York Times's own labels. Republicans in all three races were pressed to defend their ties to Trump, 25 days before the midterm elections.
Michigan mattered most. It is an open seat, and Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed met for the first time. CNN reported that Rogers called El-Sayed a “con man” and questioned his credentials as a doctor; El-Sayed said Rogers had “cheer-led” the Iran war from the start. The Hill said the debate went off the rails, and CBS reported insults traded over Iran and Israel. Tariffs came up too. Rogers said he phoned Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick this week about a trade deal with Canada, and El-Sayed answered that Rogers’s reversal on tariffs had “everything to do with his sagging poll numbers.” A New York Times/Siena University poll showed El-Sayed with a modest lead. Trump has attacked El-Sayed’s faith in recent days, The Hill reported, and Sen. Chuck Schumer denounced it. In Georgia, Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff opened by putting Rep. Mike Collins’s record on trial, and NBC News described a fight over Trump-era and Biden-era policies. Ossoff pressed Collins to explain how tariffs have helped Georgians; Collins said they were “making it fair.” The sharpest exchange, by CNN’s account, came when Ossoff said that if John Lewis were marching from Selma to Montgomery today, Collins “would be grabbing a billy club,” a reference to a social media post by Collins.
In Maine, the second debate between Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson was dominated by the Iran war and prices. ABC News reported that the two sparred over Trump, trade and abortion. Jackson accused Collins of profiting from the war and said she could use her leverage to stop it; Collins called the charge “absolutely outrageous” and demanded an apology, The Hill and CNN reported. The New York Times found that spiking heating oil costs have put her on the defensive; Collins replied that the Iran war is not the reason Maine has some of the nation’s highest electric bills. Earlier in the day, CBS and The Washington Post reported, former President Obama endorsed Jackson. Affordability, the economy and abortion also came up across the three debates, according to the roundups from The Guardian and The New York Times. The common thread is the war. Oil near $91.5 a barrel, mortgage rates at 7.40% and a president who says he will not attack Iran before Election Day are the same forces moving markets, and campaigns have turned them into a test of loyalty to Trump. Politico, CBS and The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Trump again promised no attack on Iran before the midterms, which makes the war’s timing part of the campaign. Debates rarely move polls on their own, and coverage did not point to a clear winner in any of the three. The next evidence will be the polls, especially in Michigan, and whether Collins’s numbers in Maine move as the heating season opens. Election Day is Nov. 3. Quotes here are as reported by the outlets named; we did not watch the full debates.