Senate Debates Turn Personal as Parties Fight for Control Before Nov. 3
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Senate candidates in the Nov. 3 midterm elections have spent recent weeks in sharp, often personal debates, according to BBC News and Fox News. The exchanges show Republicans handling their ties to President Donald Trump in different ways, and in many races voters will not get a debate at all.
With control of the Senate at stake, the clashes have ranged from accusations of extremism to a candidate's frank admission about her gaps in foreign policy knowledge.
The numbers behind the debate season
- 35: Senate seats are up for election this November, according to BBC News.
- 21: Races among those 35 where no debate is scheduled between the main candidates, according to an ABC News analysis cited by the BBC.
- Four: Seats Democrats need to flip to build a majority, the BBC reported. Texas is one of the places where polls suggest a surprise is possible.
- Two-thirds: Share of candidates in competitive House and Senate races who have broken with Trump in some way this cycle, according to a Reuters analysis cited by the BBC.
- 137: Times Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in a debate that she has voted against Trump in this Congress. She also said she voted with President Joe Biden 91% of the time.
- Four: Debate invitations from news networks that Texas Democrat James Talarico has accepted. Republican Ken Paxton has accepted none, the BBC reported.
Distance from Trump becomes a debate theme
The BBC reported that Trump's approval ratings have been low in recent months, with polls suggesting voters are mostly worried about the cost of living and high fuel prices. Against that backdrop, Collins is running for a sixth term and is pressing her record of breaking with the president. She faces Democrat Troy Jackson, a former president of the Maine Senate. The BBC said a New York Times/Siena University poll from mid-September suggested Collins could lead by 3%, while other polls show Jackson ahead.
In Iowa, Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is facing Democrat Josh Turek, criticized an administration deal with Russia tied to fuel imports during an Oct. 13 debate. She said the country needs lower gas and diesel prices but not through a deal with Russia, according to the BBC. Some polls suggest Turek has a narrow lead.
Personal attacks dominate several races
In Michigan, Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed clashed on Oct. 8. Fox News reported that they interrupted each other repeatedly and kept arguing during a commercial break, prompting moderator Rick Albin to step in. Rogers questioned El-Sayed's medical credentials, and the BBC said he also asked whether anyone in El-Sayed's family might be on a watchlist. El-Sayed, who would be the first Muslim U.S. senator, called Rogers a puppet of the Trump administration and described him as weak and cowardly.
In Georgia, Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff accused Republican Rep. Mike Collins of ties to white nationalists and of employing people with extremist links, Fox News reported. The accusations followed reporting on former staffers and on social media posts by Collins' son-in-law, which the BBC described as incendiary. Collins rejected the characterization and said he has condemned racism and antisemitism wherever it comes from.
In Maine, Fox News reported that Susan Collins demanded an apology after Jackson accused her and her husband of profiting from the war in Iran. The BBC reported that a protester interrupted a later Maine debate, that Collins suggested the person was linked to Jackson, and that Jackson said he did not know the person.
In South Carolina's Republican primary runoff debate on Aug. 18, Sen. Darline Graham, who was appointed after the death of her brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, was asked about Taiwan and the South China Sea. Fox News reported that she answered, “I’m not that informed on national security.” Former Gov. Nikki Haley, who backed her opponent, Rep. Ralph Norman, criticized the answer on X.
Why it matters for voters
Debates are one of the few settings where voters see candidates answer the same questions side by side. In 21 of the 35 races, according to ABC News, that will not happen between the main candidates. In Texas, Trump has urged Paxton and Talarico to debate. Peter Trumbore, a political science professor at Oakland University, told CBS News that skipping a debate means “you lose the opportunity to make the case for yourself.”
For voters in the contested states, the debates also show how candidates would handle the issues the BBC says are weighing on many Americans, including living costs and fuel prices, and how closely each Republican stands with the White House.
What happens next
Election Day is Nov. 3. Whether Paxton agrees to debate Talarico has not been resolved. His campaign said in July that he would, but the BBC reported that it has said little since.
