The first televised debate in Michigan's open U.S. Senate race turned personal Thursday night, when Republican Mike Rogers suggested Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed's family might be "on the watch list" — and El-Sayed fired back on live television: "Are you going after my mom?"
The hour-long debate, aired live from WOOD-TV's studio in Grand Rapids and simulcast nationally on NewsNation, was the first onstage meeting of the two candidates for the seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters. A Fox News survey ahead of the debate put El-Sayed at 50% and Rogers at 49%, inside the margin of error. The second and final debate is scheduled for October 21 in Detroit, with Election Day on November 3.
"Are You Going After My Mom?"
The flashpoint came during a question about federal regulation of Flock Safety cameras. Rogers said the cameras are useful for catching suspected terrorists, then added: "Why would that bother you? Well, if you have somebody in your family that might be on the watch list."
El-Sayed shot back: "Are you going after my mom?" and "You've been tiptoeing around it the whole time." Rogers defended himself by invoking his own mother: "My mom worked at a small chamber of commerce. I'll put my mom up any day," adding that he was going after "that organization that was indicted for funneling money to Al Qaeda."
The charity in question: El-Sayed's birth mother, Fatten Elkomy, worked in the 1990s for the Islamic African Relief Agency (described by some outlets as the Islamic American Relief Agency), which the U.S. Treasury designated as a terror-supporting network in 2004. Her name appeared in federal court documents concerning financial wire transfers to Iraq, but she was never criminally charged. El-Sayed largely refused to engage directly with the accusations during the debate; his campaign pointed to reporting that described them as false or misleading. Rogers also claimed El-Sayed "either supported or received donations from Hamas, Hezbollah and al-Qaeda" — a charge El-Sayed rejected.
Clashes on Iran, Tariffs and ICE
Beyond the personal exchange, the candidates split sharply on policy:
- Iran: El-Sayed refused to answer whether Iran or Israel is the greater threat to the U.S., calling it "a ridiculous hypothetical" and saying "both of them have proven dangerous in their own way."
- Canada trade war: Rogers, who has broken with President Trump on tariffs, said "we know that Canada is not our enemy" and called for ending the tariff war immediately, saying he had called the White House that week to push for a deal. El-Sayed accused him of flip-flopping "amid sagging poll numbers."
- ICE: Rogers said federal immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis were "probably not appropriate," referencing the deaths of two U.S. citizens. El-Sayed accused ICE of "terrorizing our streets" under what he called a "rogue administration."
A Combative Night to the Commercial Breaks
Rogers repeatedly called El-Sayed a "conman" and questioned his medical credentials, suggesting "if somebody came into his office and he tried to treat that patient, he'd go to jail." El-Sayed opened by branding Rogers a "sock puppet" for Trump and shot back: "Weak. Cowardly. Won't stand up until his poll numbers drop."
Moderator Rick Albin summed up the tone: "I'd like to be a part of the debate, too," and after one break noted that "in 30 years of doing debates, I've never seen it continue during the commercial. But it did."
Rogers lost the 2024 Senate race to Elissa Slotkin by just under 20,000 votes; El-Sayed edged Rep. Haley Stevens in the August 4 Democratic primary by less than a point. With the race essentially tied, the October 21 rematch in Detroit may decide who flips the seat.
Watch: The Hill — "Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers face off for high stakes Michigan Senate debate tonight," live debate-night coverage with pre- and post-debate analysis of the October 8 clash over retiring Senator Gary Peters' seat.
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Hitman (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
Sources: USA Today, CNN, The New York Times, political.org