Five Senate Debate Moments That Lit Up the Midterm Map, From Michigan to Maine

With control of the Senate at stake in November, the debate stage has produced some of the sharpest moments of the campaign so far.

Fox News rounded up five of them. Here is what each one was about, in the candidates' own words where Fox quotes them.

Michigan. Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed met Oct. 8 for their first debate, and it got so heated that, by Fox's account, the arguing carried on through a commercial break. Moderator Rick Albin said he had never seen that in 30 years of doing debates. Rogers questioned El-Sayed's medical credentials and called him a "con man." El-Sayed called Rogers "weak" and "cowardly" and said he enriched himself through corporate ties after leaving Congress. Fox says a poll shows the race at 50% to 49%.

Georgia. Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff accused Republican Rep. Mike Collins of "personal bigotry" and ties to White nationalists, and charged that Collins "hired half the Third Reich" to staff his office. Fox says the claims follow reporting on Collins' former staffers and his son-in-law, whose social media activity has drawn scrutiny. Collins rejected the characterization and said he has consistently condemned racism and antisemitism. He portrayed Ossoff as a radical liberal out of touch with Georgia voters.

South Carolina. In an Aug. 18 Republican primary runoff debate, Sen. Darline Graham, who Fox says was appointed after the death of her brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, was asked whether Taiwan and the South China Sea are national security concerns. She answered, "I'm not that informed on national security." She said it was "not my area of expertise" but that she supports the military. Former Gov. Nikki Haley, who backs her opponent, Rep. Ralph Norman, said national security expertise cannot be inherited.

Maine. In an Oct. 8 debate, Democrat Troy Jackson said Republican Sen. Susan Collins and her husband are "making money off this war" in Iran. Collins called that "absolutely false" and demanded an apology. Fox notes her husband's 2025 disclosure shows between $15,001 and $50,000 in stock in each of Boeing and RTX, and that a Collins spokesperson said a third party manages the investments with no individual stock trades in more than three years.

Also in Maine, Democratic primary candidate Ashley Webb went viral in July after citing songwriting and writing books among her qualifications for the Senate.

For readers, the takeaway is practical. Several of these races are close, and the candidates are running hard on character and on the Iran war as much as on policy. Watch the debates yourself where you can.