Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers debated Thursday in Grand Rapids in Michigan’s open Senate race, clashing over the war in Iran, gas prices, tariffs and personal issues. Reports described no decisive winner from the first debate.
El-Sayed criticized Rogers over his ties to President Donald Trump and changes in his positions, while Rogers called El-Sayed a “con man” and questioned how he would finance his proposals. The candidates also exchanged accusations involving Rogers’s Florida home and property owned by El-Sayed’s wife in the United Arab Emirates. After the debate, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Rogers had “completely obliterated” El-Sayed. The Washington Examiner reported that strategists did not expect the debate to shift the race, which it said could affect control of the chamber.