ROUNDUP: Democratic Senate Candidates Dominate the Debate Stage, Put Floundering Republican Opponents “On Trial” as GOP Runs From Toxic Record

New York Times: “Moderators asked about high gas prices, Mr. Trump’s tariffs, the Iran war and immigration raids — all topics that forced Republicans to defend unpopular Trump administration policies or explain why they are now skeptical of stances they previously supported”

In key Senate battleground states across the map, Democratic Senate candidates took the debate stages last night to put their floundering, weak Republican opponents “on the spot” and “forced Republicans to defend unpopular Trump administration policies or explain why they are now skeptical of stances they previously supported.”

• In Georgia, Jon Ossoff put Mike Collins on “trial” over his bigotry and ties to white nationalists. 
• In Iowa, Ashley Hinson lectured millennials over their saving habits amid “record diesel prices,” “surg[ing]” gas costs, and fertilizer prices at “near peak levels.” 
• In Maine, Troy Jackson exposed Susan Collins for voting with Trump 96% of the time and for her role as a “willing participant” and the “most important patron” at the center of a “vile, outright bribery pay-for-play” corruption scheme. 
• And in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed called out Mike Rogers for cashing in on his time in Washington, cheering on a war that’s sending Michiganders’ costs soaring, and flip-flopping on Trump’s trade war when it became politically inconvenient. 

See for yourself:

IN GEORGIA

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Jon Ossoff puts Mike Collins on ‘trial’ in fiery U.S. Senate debate

• The Democratic incumbent used the debate to put Collins on the spot, challenging him more than a dozen times over his ties to white nationalists, an ongoing ethics investigation and his support for President Donald Trump’s agenda.
• Ossoff laid the groundwork for that strategy from the outset, declaring that Georgia voters were about to witness the “trial of Mike Collins.” And he spent the next hour trying to deliver the case.
• Ossoff even turned a question about data centers into a personal attack, accusing Collins of having “hired half the Third Reich to staff your congressional office.”
• And he invoked his mentor with a particularly bruising broadside: “If John Lewis were marching today from Selma to Montgomery, Mike Collins would be grabbing a billy club.”
• Collins was the candidate who needed to shake up a race that has increasingly tilted toward Democrats […] yet it was Ossoff who spent much of the night keeping Collins in the defendant’s chair.

IN IOWA

POLITICO: Iowa’s Ashley Hinson slams the savings habits of millennials

• Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson took a swipe at the savings habits of millennials as she fielded a question Wednesday about Social Security during a Senate campaign debate.
• She said the country needed to have a “serious conversation” about “how young people are saving money,” […] “We also need to be talking about millennials saving money,” she later added. “Millennials are the worst group of savers in the country right now and have the least amount of savings. So those are ways where I think we can help have a bigger conversation around saving in general […]”
• Hinson faces a tough race in Iowa against Turek amid a difficult political environment for Republicans. Voters are overwhelmingly pessimistic about the state of the economy and their own personal finances, and they support Social Security while being concerned about the program’s future.
• When pushed on her statement that “all options should be on the table [when it comes to Social Security],” she turned her attention to young people.

IN MAINE

Portland Press Herald: 5 notable moments from Susan Collins and Troy Jackson’s 2nd debate

• Jackson repeatedly blamed the Iran War for increasing fuel and electricity prices, saying that Collins voted five times against stopping it. 
• “She could use her leverage to stop this war,” he said. “But instead … Sen. Collins and her husband are making money off this war and so is a whole bunch of other people and that’s why this doesn’t stop.”
• Jackson was referring to Collins’ husband, Tom Daffron’s, vast stock portfolio, which includes holdings in natural gas and Boeing.
• Collins has made her experience and seniority a central theme of her campaign. […] But Jackson wasn’t impressed. He continued to describe Collins as kowtowing to the demands of President Donald Trump.
• “She’s powerful during election time but she’s weak every time we need her to stand up and fight for us,” Jackson said.
• Abortion has been a big issue this campaign, especially Collins’ vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, which led in part to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
• [Jackson] acknowledged that he changed his views on abortion after speaking with women — something he said Collins didn’t do when Mainers traveled to D.C. to urge her to oppose Kavanaugh.
• “Our records have changed,” said Jackson, who is endorsed by Planned Parenthood. “Mine has gotten better — hers has gotten worse.”
• Jackson has repeatedly accused Collins of voting with Trump 96% of the time. The claim comes from CQ Roll Call analysis of the first seven months of 2025, which found the percentage was closer to 95%.

IN MICHIGAN

Michigan Advance: El-Sayed, Rogers trade barbs, accusations during first televised U.S. Senate debate

• At the top of the hour, moderator Rick Albin asked the candidates about the price of gas, and if they would support suspending the gas tax. 
• El-Sayed noted that the Iran war was driving much of the high prices that Americans are dealing with. 
• [El-Sayed] noted his belief that Rogers had a direct line to Trump and had the ability to potentially persuade the president to end the war, but hadn’t because he didn’t want to face his wrath.
• “It’s about whether you can see your doctor, and whether you can trust your next U.S. Senator,” El-Sayed said. “You’re running because Donald Trump called him and asked him to run.”
• Before Albin could move to the next question, El-Sayed interjected to note that the loss of jobs and hikes on prices in goods over the last 30 years was due to Rogers’ support of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
• “You did that man,” El-Sayed said. “That was your policy.”
• Albin questioned Rogers about his changing position on Canadian tariffs, noting that Rogers has shifted his stance throughout the campaign on Trump’s trade war with Canada.
• Early in the campaign, Rogers praised Trump’s efforts on encouraging businesses to stay on American soil through tariffs on other nations, including some U.S. allies like Canada. That later changed to Rogers saying that he supported those that created investments and that some of those tariffs were too high, and that he would encourage the administration to bring some of them down.
• El-Sayed said Rogers was flip-flopping on the tariffs because his polls were lagging.
• El-Sayed criticized Rogers’ work with telecommunications companies after his time in Congress, including Telefónica, which El-Sayed linked to surveillance practices in Venezuela.
• The candidates also argued over their wealth, [… El-Sayed argued] Rogers had a “McMansion” in Florida that he took off the market because he knew he was going to lose. El-Sayed also accused Rogers of having two yachts in Florida, which Rogers denied.
• On Iran, El-Sayed accused Rogers of being a ‘cheerleader’ for war throughout his congressional career.
• “When you have an international problem, he’s got a war for that,” El-Sayed said, noting that could be dangerous as the U.S. has so many foreign entanglements.
• “[Rogers] wanted to make this about everything except the policy,” El-Sayed said.