---
title: "Two Senate Debates, One Thursday Night: Michigan Brawls While Maine Slings Mud"
description: "El-Sayed and Rogers fought over Iran, Canada and Florida in Grand Rapids. In Maine, Collins and Jackson fought over the war and a contract"
author: "Jan Sokol"
published: 2026-10-09T02:09:00Z
modified: 2026-10-09T11:25:17Z
url: https://rews.cc/a/in-grand-rapids-rogers-and-el-sayed-fight-over-iran-canada-a-4bbea5
language: en
tags: ["elections", "politics", "trump", "michigan", "iran", "us"]
publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)"
---

# Two Senate Debates, One Thursday Night: Michigan Brawls While Maine Slings Mud

*El-Sayed and Rogers fought over Iran, Canada and Florida in Grand Rapids. In Maine, Collins and Jackson fought over the war and a contract*

By Jan Sokol · October 9, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/in-grand-rapids-rogers-and-el-sayed-fight-over-iran-canada-a-4bbea5

## In brief

- Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers held their first Michigan Senate debate in Grand Rapids, 26 days before Election Day
- A Marist poll from Sept 24–27 had El-Sayed ahead 51% to 44% among registered voters; other polls show a closer race
- Rogers called for ending the Iran war and the tariff war with Canada, positions he once supported, and El-Sayed called it a flip-flop
- Rogers called the Minneapolis immigration operation, in which agents killed two U.S. citizens, “probably not appropriate”
- In Maine, Collins and Jackson clashed over a ProPublica pay-to-play report and the Iran war in their second debate

On Thursday evening in Grand Rapids, in the studio of WOOD, the city’s NBC affiliate, two men stood for an hour and tried to dismantle each other. Both want the Senate seat that Gary Peters, a Democrat, is giving up. It was the first televised debate of a race that [Al Jazeera described](https://aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/9/key-takeaways-from-us-senate-debate-in-michigan-between-el-sayed-rogers) as a toss-up, held 26 days before Election Day. The moderator, Rick Albin, spent much of the hour trying to get a word in. “I’d like to be a part of the debate, too,” he said at one point, [as Henry J. Gomez reported for NBC News](https://yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/sparks-fly-abdul-el-sayed-004231322.html). After the only commercial break, Albin told viewers the two had kept arguing while they were off the air. “I appreciate your passion, but please, let’s try to keep this orderly,” he said, [according to CBS News](https://cbsnews.com/news/el-sayed-rogers-michigan-senate-debate-iran-israel-insults/).

The Democrat, Abdul El-Sayed, called the Republican, former Rep. Mike Rogers, “weak,” “cowardly” and a “sock puppet for the Trump administration.” Rogers called El-Sayed a “glitchy AI chatbot” running a “con” who would “say anything to win.” “We cannot afford Abdul,” he said.

The stakes are real. Republicans have not won a Senate seat in Michigan since 1994, and this one could help decide who controls the chamber. Rogers has come close before. In 2024 Trump carried the state by 1.4 percentage points, while Rogers lost to Elissa Slotkin by 0.34 points, roughly 19,000 votes, [Zack Stanton wrote for MS NOW](https://ms.now/news/michigan-senate-debate-abdul-el-sayed-rogers). Trump’s approval rating in Michigan stood at 41% last month. The [Marist poll](https://maristpoll.marist.edu/polls/midterm-elections-in-michigan-september-2026/), conducted September 24 to 27, gave El-Sayed 51% to Rogers’ 44% among registered voters. Other surveys of likely voters show something closer, including a Fox News poll [listed by 270toWin](https://www.270towin.com/2026-senate-polls/michigan) at 50 to 49.

## The war at the pump

The first question was about the gas tax, because petrol prices have climbed with the war in Iran. Both men said they would pause it. El-Sayed then went after the cause. “It’s the war in Iran, a war that has been cheer-led by my opponent since the beginning,” he said. “Called it a ‘win, win, win.’ I don’t know about you, but when I go to the gas tank, I don’t feel like I’m winning.”

Rogers backed the war at first. Last month he filmed a video in a supermarket aisle, never mentioning Trump, in which he said “the war with Iran needs to end, and end quickly.” On Thursday he said “this would be the time to wrap it up,” arguing that Iran’s nuclear program and conventional military had been severely degraded. El-Sayed called it a “stupid war” and pointed to the Obama-era nuclear deal that Trump ended in his first term. “He’s got a direct line to the president who’s making sure the war does not end, and he’s not using it,” he said.

This is an old pattern among courtiers, offered here as reflection. The loyalist finds the courage to disagree at the moment the ruler’s favour starts to cost him votes.

## A Canadian beer

On Wednesday Rogers released a 30-second ad, shot in a bar in Macomb County, in which he drinks a Labatt Blue. “Here in Michigan, we know that Canada is not our enemy. We need to end this tariff war — now,” he says. In July Trump had imposed a 50% tariff on some Canadian imports, Canada had retaliated, and Michigan’s auto industry had taken the blow. In August Rogers had written that “President Trump is right to put America First — and tariffs are necessary.” Asked about the ad in the Oval Office, Trump said: “I viewed him as saying that he thinks Canada should make a deal.”

On stage, Rogers said he had called the White House and spoken with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick “about getting the deal done.” El-Sayed cited a study that put the cost of the Canadian tariff policy at $5,600 a year: “Weak, cowardly, won’t stand up until his poll numbers drop.”

## Minneapolis, Gaza, Florida

Asked whether Trump’s immigration enforcement had ever gone too far, Rogers said this year’s operation in Minneapolis, during which federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens, was “probably not appropriate.” He drew on his years as an FBI agent in Chicago: “You always want to go in quiet, get the bad guy, get out of the neighborhood.” He added: “They made that correction.” El-Sayed has called for abolishing ICE. Asked whether an undocumented immigrant who committed a violent crime should be deported, he said: “Yes, but you don’t have to do that by violating the whole Constitution.”

Asked whether Iran or Israel was the bigger threat, El-Sayed called it “a ridiculous hypothetical,” said Israel had lobbied Washington into the war and said “both of them have proven dangerous in their own way.” Rogers said Israel would lose his support only if it talked of using nuclear weapons: “I’ve never heard them say that, though.” He accused El-Sayed of putting out no statement on the third anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 attack. El-Sayed said he had condemned it but “didn’t turn it into political theater like you just did.”

Then they argued about property: Rogers’ waterfront home in Florida and a rental property owned by El-Sayed’s wife in the United Arab Emirates. “At least Florida is in the United States,” Rogers said. “It’s not in Michigan, my guy,” El-Sayed replied.

## A name

The night before, Trump had called El-Sayed “Mohammed” on Truth Social and described him as someone who “goes back to the days of the Jihad”. Vice President JD Vance has urged Republicans facing a Democrat “who’s not that crazy” to talk about El-Sayed instead, a line of attack rews followed through Grand Rapids. At lunch with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday, El-Sayed answered: “My name and my faith are not the reason you can’t afford a tank of gas.” Trump says he will visit Michigan “in about a week and a half.” Barack Obama is due to campaign with El-Sayed later this month.

## Meanwhile, in Maine

The same night, Sen. Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson held their second debate. Their first, on Tuesday, was “a mess,” [James Pindell wrote in the *Boston Globe*](https://bostonglobe.com/2026/10/08/nation/susan-collins-troy-jackson-maine-denate/). The opening question was about a [ProPublica investigation](https://www.propublica.org/article/fbi-susan-collins-navatek-campaign-donations-investigation) alleging that Collins steered millions in government contracts to a Hawaii business in exchange for campaign donations. Collins again denied any wrongdoing. The FBI has said its earlier inquiry found [nothing implicating her](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/maine-dems-hammer-collins-over-report-of-pay-to-play-probe-gop-senator-calls-it-completely-false). A Democrat has since [filed an ethics complaint](https://pressherald.com/2026/10/07/democrat-files-ethics-complaint-against-susan-collins-over-alleged-pay-to-play-scheme). Jackson was then asked about corporate money he once took for a state Senate PAC, and he denied advancing anything those donors wanted.

When the talk turned to heating oil and Iran, Jackson accused Collins and her husband of “making money off this war.” “That’s absolutely outrageous and you owe me an apology,” Collins said. Jackson did not explain the claim.

Collins said she had voted nine times to end the war. Jackson said she had voted five times for it. She voted to advance the One Big Beautiful Bill procedurally and then voted against its passage. She disputed his figure that she votes with Trump 96 percent of the time and said the real number was 72 percent. Trump’s approval rating in Maine is in the 30s. Collins also said she had “secured $1.5 billion for 672 projects all over the state of Maine during the past five years.” Collins and Jackson debate twice more next week. In Michigan, El-Sayed and Rogers have one debate left.

## Sources

- [Key takeaways from US Senate debate in Michigan between El-Sayed and Rogers](https://aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/9/key-takeaways-from-us-senate-debate-in-michigan-between-el-sayed-rogers) — aljazeera.com
- [Sparks fly as Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers face off in first Michigan Senate debate](https://yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/sparks-fly-abdul-el-sayed-004231322.html) — yahoo.com
- [El-Sayed and Rogers debate tonight, each squeezed from both sides](https://ms.now/news/michigan-senate-debate-abdul-el-sayed-rogers) — ms.now
- [In Maine, a Senate debate heavy on mud and light on clarity](https://bostonglobe.com/2026/10/08/nation/susan-collins-troy-jackson-maine-denate/) — bostonglobe.com
- [El-Sayed and Rogers spar over Iran and Trump, and toss insults, in Michigan Senate debate](https://cbsnews.com/news/el-sayed-rogers-michigan-senate-debate-iran-israel-insults/) — cbsnews.com