Senate debates turn personal as battleground map expands toward Democrats

Three Senate debates on Thursday night produced some of the most caustic exchanges of the 2026 midterm cycle — candidates accusing each other of ties to terrorism, Nazism, and war profiteering — as new reporting and polling signals that the map for Senate control is expanding in Democrats' favor, reaching states that have not sent a Democrat to Washington in nearly a century.

In Michigan, Republican Mike Rogers sought to link Democrat Abdul El-Sayed's family to a terrorism-related indictment, despite, as PBS NewsHour anchor Amna Nawaz noted on air, there being no evidence connecting El-Sayed himself to wrongdoing.

You go after my mom?— Abdul El-Sayed, Democratic Michigan Senate candidate

I'm not going after your mom. What your mom was working at, I was going after that organization that was indicted for funneling money to al-Qaida.— Mike Rogers, Republican Michigan Senate candidate

In Georgia, Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff leveled some of the sharpest language of the night against Republican Congressman Mike Collins.

It's not just that you have hired half the Third Reich to staff your congressional office and you have promoted neo-Nazi content online. It's that you're robbing your constituents to subsidize your donors. If John Lewis were marching today from Selma to Montgomery, Mike Collins would be grabbing a billy club.— Sen. Jon Ossoff, Democrat, Georgia

I have condemned racism, antisemitism, hate. I don't care where the source is. And I tell him that too. It's wrong. We have no place in this world for that.— Rep. Mike Collins, Republican Georgia Senate candidate

In Maine, Democratic challenger Troy Jackson accused Republican incumbent Susan Collins of personally profiting from the ongoing war, prompting a sharp demand for an apology.

She could use her leverage to stop this war, but instead they're making money. I mean, Senator Collins and her husband are making money more off of this war, and so is a whole bunch of other people, and that's why this doesn't stop.— Troy Jackson, Democratic Maine Senate candidate

That is absolutely outrageous, and you owe me an apology.— Sen. Susan Collins, Republican, Maine

No, you owe me an apology.— Troy Jackson, Democratic Maine Senate candidate

Those debates coincided with The Cook Political Report moving three Senate contests — in Kansas, North Carolina, and New Hampshire — in Democrats' favor, while CNN lengthened its list of seats most likely to change hands from nine to ten by adding Kansas, a state that last elected a Democrat to the Senate 94 years ago.

On PBS NewsHour, analysts David Brooks of The Atlantic and Jonathan Capehart of MS NOW joined Nawaz to assess what the heat in those debates reveals about the broader contest for Senate control.

I have said many times here that this election cycle, midterm election cycle, reminds me of 2006, exactly 20 years ago. These same conversations were happening, particularly with the Senate. The Senate map then and now was supposed to be extremely difficult, if not impossible for Democrats to retake the majority. And here we are in just Georgia, Michigan, Maine.— Jonathan Capehart, MS NOW

Capehart argued that the nastiness itself is a signal: Democrats feel within striking distance, while Republicans — whose party controls the White House — feel they are on the defensive.

Brooks agreed the map has shifted but argued the debates illustrated something beyond electoral pressure: a decade of what he called political and moral decay that has removed the old deterrent against dishonest attacks.

The candidates used to be inhibited a bit by the sense that, if I lie, if I'm a total sleazebag, it might hurt me. And now they realize it won't hurt me at all. And, in fact, my partisans may actually like it.— David Brooks, The Atlantic

Brooks was critical of all three debates. He called Jackson's war-profiteering charge against Collins — based on her holding Boeing stock — 'ridiculous,' said Rogers' insinuations linking El-Sayed to terrorism because he is Muslim were equally unfounded, and advised Ossoff directly.

If you start calling your political opponents Nazis, maybe it's time to shut up. That's just not what we do here in this country.— David Brooks, The Atlantic

Brooks acknowledged that some underlying criticisms had merit — noting that Collins does hold Boeing stock, and that Collins' opponent could have made that point without the war-profiteering framing; that Collins' opponent Mike Collins has, according to Brooks, 'a disturbing number of young men on his — around him who have ties to the alt-right and some of the vile antisemitic stuff online'; and that El-Sayed, when asked which was a greater threat between Iran and Israel, could not give a clear answer. Even so, Brooks contended that in each instance the candidates 'took it to 11 and it was dishonest.'

CNN's expanded Senate battleground list reflects broader Democratic momentum. A CNN Poll of Polls puts Trump's approval rating at 34%, with voters expressing frustration over the economy and the war he launched against Iran. Special elections since Trump returned to office have shown a rise in Democratic enthusiasm. Still, ad-tracking firm AdImpact projects that Republicans will outspend Democrats on advertising in eight of the ten most competitive Senate races between the start of October and Election Day.

Among the most-watched individual races: North Carolina remains CNN's top-ranked seat most likely to flip, with Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper leading GOP nominee Michael Whatley by 11 points in one recent poll, and the Senate Leadership Fund pausing its ad campaign there. In Ohio, former Sen. Sherrod Brown leads GOP Sen. Jon Husted in most polls, with one New York Times/Siena University survey showing Brown at 49% and Husted at 46%. In Alaska, a NYT/Siena poll placed Democrat Mary Peltola seven points ahead of GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan, 50% to 43%, in a race that will be decided by ranked-choice voting.

According to CNN, Democrats must capture four Republican-held seats while holding on to three of their own — Michigan among them — to claim a Senate majority. With the map now including Kansas and showing competitive numbers in Ohio, Alaska, and Texas — all states Trump carried by double digits in 2024 — the arithmetic has become more favorable for Democrats than most strategists anticipated at the start of the cycle.

Why it matters — Control of the U.S. Senate — and with it the power to confirm judges, pass legislation, and check the executive branch — may hinge on a handful of states where the race has tightened faster than either party expected.

Sources differ on Whether Troy Jackson's corruption accusation against Susan Collins warrants an apology: Collins called the accusation 'absolutely outrageous' and demanded an apology. (pbs.org) vs Jackson refused, saying Collins owes him an apology instead. (pbs.org)

Reported by pbs.org, usnews.com, cnn.com, tiffinohio.net