What we learned from heated US midterm Senate debates

What we learned from fiery US midterm Senate debates

Over the past few weeks, candidates vying for US Senate seats in next month’s midterm elections have been taking part in debates marked by sharp exchanges and harsh personal attacks.

With the 3 November vote nearing and both parties battling for control of Congress, several clear patterns have emerged, especially in some of the most closely fought Senate contests.

Here’s what you need to know.

Republican candidates are once again confronting a question they have faced in elections since 2016: how closely aligned are they with President Donald Trump?

Conservatives who have previously broken with the president have generally not done well with voters.

Trump’s approval ratings have been low in recent months, with polls indicating that voters are mainly worried about the cost of living and high fuel prices.

Although some Republican candidates have stayed firmly in step with Trump, a Reuters analysis indicated, external that two-thirds of candidates in competitive US House and Senate races have broken with the president in some way during this election cycle.

Susan Collins, a Maine Republican seeking a sixth Senate term and someone who has repeatedly distanced herself from Trump, is again making that separation clear.

"I voted with President Biden 91% of the time," Collins said during a debate last week.

"The fact is, this year alone, this Congress alone, I voted against President Trump 137 times," she said.

Collins is facing a tighter-than-expected Senate race against Democrat Troy Jackson, the former president of the Maine Senate. A New York Times/Siena University poll from mid-September suggests Collins may be ahead by 3%, while other polls show Jackson in front.

In other races, some Republican candidates are distancing themselves from specific Trump administration policies while still expressing loyalty to Trump personally.

In Iowa, a state long considered a Republican stronghold, Congresswoman Ashley Hinson is dealing with a tougher-than-expected challenge in her Senate race.

She is running against Democrat Josh Turek, and some polls show him with a narrow lead.

Hinson has not gone as far as Collins in separating herself from Trump, but she has broken with the president on some policy issues.

During a 13 October debate with Turek, Hinson was asked about the Trump administration striking a deal with Russia to import 300,000 tonnes to the US, followed by several more shipments.

The Republican candidate was blunt: "We need to lower gas prices in this country, we need to lower diesel prices, but I don't think we need to be making a deal with Russia to do it."

As the debates have unfolded in recent weeks, candidates have also been willing to launch pointed personal attacks on their rivals.

The contest for the open Michigan Senate seat — between Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers — has featured plenty of them.

Rogers, a former congressman backed by Trump, asked during a debate whether anyone in his Muslim opponent’s family might be on a "watchlist".

El-Sayed, who would become the first Muslim member of the US Senate, responded forcefully.

He described the Republican as "a sock puppet for the Trump administration" and said he was "weak, cowardly [and] won't stand up until his poll numbers drop".

On Thursday, after a protester interrupted a Maine debate between Jackson and Collins, Collins suggested the interrupter was linked to her opponent.

Jackson then replied to Collins: "Oh shut up, I don't even know that kid."

Further south in Georgia, there were more personal attacks between incumbent Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff and Representative Mike Collins, a Trump-backed Republican.

What began as Ossoff accusing Collins of taking money out of Georgians’ hands to give to data centre developers quickly escalated into a barrage of insults, including Ossoff calling Collins a "bigot" who has "hired half the Third Reich".

Posts on social media by Collins’ son-in-law, David Alan Scheer II, have also become a flashpoint in the race.

In one post, Scheer blamed "Israel and Zionist Jews" for policies he said were meant to "undermine the white, Christian nature of America".

Collins defended himself by accusing Ossoff of "spewing" "craziness".

"I've condemned racism, antisemitism, hate; I don't care where the source is," the Republican said.

There are 35 Senate seats on the ballot this November, but an ABC News analysis found that in 21 of them there are no debates scheduled between the main candidates.

One absence of debates has particularly surprised observers: the Texas race between James Talarico, a Democratic state representative, and Ken Paxton, a Republican and former state attorney general.

Polls in the usually Republican state suggest Talarico could be within reach of an upset victory.

If he wins, he could help Democrats take control of the US Senate by flipping one of the four seats they need for a majority.

Talarico has accepted four debate invitations from different news networks. Paxton, meanwhile, has not accepted any of them.

In July, Paxton’s campaign spokesperson told media outlets that he would debate Talarico. But since then, the campaign and Paxton have said little about it. Trump, who supported Paxton in the Republican primaries, has even called on the candidates to debate.

"One thing about not showing up is you lose the opportunity to make the case for yourself, and instead, what you do is you give your opponent the ability and the opportunity to make your case as negative as possible," Peter Trumbore, a political science professor at Oakland University, told the BBC’s US partner CBS News last month.