Rogers, El-Sayed set to face off for first time in Michigan Senate debate

Michigan Senate candidates Abdul El-Sayed (D) and former Rep. Mike Rogers (R) will face off in their first debate Thursday as they wrestle in the tightly contested race to succeed retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D).

The debate will offer the candidates a chance to share their platforms and elevate criticism with one another’s political stances face-to-face less than a month out from Election Day.

The pair have traded barbs on the campaign trail, with the Republican accusing his opponent of being “ too extreme ” and the Democrat criticizing Rogers for his support of the Trump administration’s policies.

WOOD TV8, a Grand Rapids news station owned by The Hill’s parent company, Nexstar Media, will host the debate. The event will air live at 7 p.m. EDT, and each candidate will have a minute to respond to questions and 30 seconds for follow-ups, rebuttals and closing statements.

Rogers declined to participate in a debate against El-Sayed last month, accusing the host outlet and the moderator of favoring his opponent. The Democrat opted to take the stage alone.

El-Sayed has gained a slight lead over his Republican opponent in recent polling and won the support of the Democratic establishment despite early skepticism surrounding his campaign. The Democrat posted a 1-point lead in a Fox News poll and a 7-point lead in a Suffolk University survey last month.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned alongside the Democrat in Michigan a month after endorsing him . Later this month, on the first day of Michigan’s in-person early voting, former President Obama is set to stump for both El-Sayed and the state’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson.

President Trump has endorsed Rogers in this race, and the Michigan Republican has championed many of the administration’s policies on the campaign trail.

The GOP candidate notably broke with the president Wednesday when he called for an end to the trade fight between the U.S. and Canada after previously defending Trump’s tariffs as “necessary.”

El-Sayed has narrowly maintained a lead in Decision Desk HQ’s polling average since mid-August. The Cook Political Report , a nonpartisan election handicapper, rates the race as a “toss-up.”