Republican nominee for U.S. Senate Mike Rogers and Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Abdul El-Sayed faced off in a televised debate hosted by WXYZ-TV in Southfield on Wednesday, October 21, 2026. The candidates, who are in a toss-up race according to Cook Political Report, continued their contentious exchange over policy issues and personal attacks.
Rogers has accused El-Sayed of having ties to extreme Islamic movements and claimed his donors supported those movements. El-Sayed has denied any such ties and criticized Rogers for resorting to Islamophobic rhetoric. El-Sayed also criticized Rogers for his support of Trump’s tariffs, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the administration’s immigration enforcement tactics, and the war in Iran.
During the debate, Rogers brought up the Muslim Brotherhood in response to a question about police funding, prompting El-Sayed to call it “shameful” that Rogers kept resorting to Islamophobic rhetoric. El-Sayed stated, “To bring into question my commitment to the Constitution is really just beneath you. I’m proud to be an American. I’m proud of our Constitution that guarantees all of us the right to pray as we choose to pray, and the question that you would ask that, I think, is actually really quite shameful. As somebody who’s actually served under that Constitution, it is shameful.” Rogers responded by stating his criticism was about the ideology associated with Islamic extremism, not El-Sayed’s religion.
The candidates were asked if Iran still posed a threat to the United States and how the conflict was affecting prices on gasoline and goods, especially a
