Michigan, Kansas Stage Final Senate Debates as Trump Looms Over 2 Crucial 2026 Races
Updated
Updated · CNN · Oct 21
Michigan, Kansas Stage Final Senate Debates as Trump Looms Over 2 Crucial 2026 Races
3 articles · Updated · CNN · Oct 21
Summary
Michigan and Kansas hosted two of the last major Senate debates before the 2026 midterms, with the Michigan clash turning sharply personal in a race that could decide Senate control.
Mike Rogers pressed Abdul El-Sayed over loyalty and alleged ties to extremist-linked donors, while El-Sayed called the attacks shameful and cast Rogers as running a scripted Trump-style "MAGA bingo" campaign.
Trump and the economy dominated Michigan, where Rogers tried to separate himself from unpopular policies such as the Canada trade war even as El-Sayed argued voters were living in "Donald Trump's economy" and paying more for gas and groceries.
Kansas took a different shape in a state Trump won by 16 points: Adam Hamilton spent much of the debate distancing himself from Chuck Schumer, socialism and Biden's border record rather than tying Roger Marshall directly to Trump.
ICE raids in southwest Kansas became the sharpest exchange there, with Marshall defending his access to the administration and Hamilton using arrests of local residents to argue immigration enforcement had become politicized and heartless.