GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin and former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers clashed repeatedly here Tuesday over who would best represent his purple state in the first debate of the hotly contested Senate race.
The tone during the hourlong debate, hosted by NBC affiliate WOOD, was mostly civil. But there have been several hostile moments, with both candidates accusing the other of lying and distorting their records.
Noting Slotkin’s background as a CIA analyst, Rogers said, “I’m not even sure he could pass a polygraph test. [for] No more CIA.”
After Rogers accused Slotkin of “listening to the microphone” during a particularly contentious exchange about China, he fired back.
“It’s unfortunate that a man who thinks he’s a national security official doesn’t see that we need to work together on this — he shouldn’t lie over and over again,” Slotkin said. “Let’s get down to business, man.”
The first of two debates scheduled in the final weeks of the race comes as mail-in voting continues in Michigan. Slotkin and Rogers are vying for the seat opened by the retirement of longtime Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow. Recent surveys They found Slotkin the leader, but among the mistakes.
Both candidates showed themselves Tuesday as bipartisan enough for the swing state, one of the key battlegrounds in this year’s race for the presidency and control of the Senate.
“We’re a very purple state — a lot of Democrats, a lot of Republicans,” Slotkin said. “I was voted 14th most bipartisan member of Congress.”
Rogers, who has served in the House for 14 years, said he will “seek every opportunity to be bipartisan.”
Their sharpest disagreements centered on foreign policy and national security, the economy and abortion.
“He was the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee on the eve of the Iraq war,” Slotkin said of Rogers. “There was no greater support than this. “There was no fist stronger than Mike Rogers who led us to this war.”
Rogers responded by questioning Slotkin’s integrity.
“This information to Congress was based on the CIA at the time my opponent was doing analytical work for the CIA,” Rogers said. “And listen, I understand, the CIA has deception training. My opponent clearly passed it. But you should use it against your opponents, not Michigan voters.
Slotkin did not join the CIA until late 2003, after the invasion of Iraq, according to his campaign.
Asked if he would support Vice President Kamala Harris’ proposal for $25,000 down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers, Slotkin said, “I would like to see the details of that program.”
Rogers turned his response into an opportunity to question his bipartisan bona fides, noting how often he votes with President Joe Biden and Harris’ agenda.
“My opponent 100% voted With the Biden-Harris agenda – 100% – and if you think about what that means, that means he’s going to come in and vote for that $25,000 [proposal] and any other scheme that will only increase the cost of housing,” Rogers said.
Another tense moment came during the exchange over Medicare and Social Security.
“He voted to raise the retirement age,” Slotkin said, referring to Rogers’ votes on conservative House budgets. “It’s on his record. This is public. I’m not sure he remembers. “He’s been in Florida for a few years, but when you vote in Congress, your record is clear.”
Rogers fired back at Slotkin’s “very wealthy family.”
“We came from a middle-class family in Michigan,” he said. “We relied on social security. We trust Medicare. My father had cancer. I had cancer when I was 19 years old. These issues are big and personal, and I will do everything I can to protect Medicare and Social Security.”
Both Slotkin and Rogers they tried to frame the other as a carpetbagger Far from Michigan values. Democrats point to how Rogers moved to Cape Coral, Fla., after leaving Congress a decade ago, where he lived in a nearly $1.7 million home until he returned to Michigan to prepare for his Senate bid. Recently, local media coverage Noting how Rogers doesn’t live at the address where he’s registered to vote — his campaign is blaming a delay in hooking up a township’s newly built home to the municipal sewer system.
Republicans point out that Slotkin returned to Michigan to run seven years ago — after stints in the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations.
Slotkin made another Florida-related jab near the end of the debate when both candidates were asked how Michigan voters would fare in 2022. codified abortion rights in the state constitution.
Rogers acknowledged that Michiganders “voted overwhelmingly to make abortion legal and part of the Michigan state constitution” and that “when I get back to Washington, DC, nothing will change…that will change.”
Slotkin countered by pointing out that Rogers he often voted Because of the abortion ban legislation in Congress — and when the 2022 ballot measure passed — she was not a resident of Michigan.
“To me,” Slotkin said, “every time she made one of those votes, she was saying something very special. She was telling women that she doesn’t trust you to make your own family planning decisions every time.
“I was in Michigan and I voted yes on Proposition 3,” Slotkin added. “You were in Florida. You voted in Florida. You were not here.”