US Senate candidates Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, left, and Republican Mike Rogers shake hands after the debate on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, at WXYZ Channel 7 in Southfield, Michigan.
Robin Buckson/Pool/AP
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The Michigan Senate debate between Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers was bitterly personal and ferociously contested — as befits a contest that could decide the chamber’s majority.

Each candidate had a simple task.

El-Sayed, the former executive director of the Detroit Health Department, needed to pin Rogers, a former congressman, to the deeply unpopular President Donald Trump and his economy — and to assuage questions from moderates about his politics.