Republican Candidates Draw Lines With Trump as Races Tighten

Republican candidates in Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan and Maine aired disagreements with President Trump on tariffs, energy prices and foreign policy during the Oct. 18, 2026, broadcast of “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” The program described competitive Senate and governor’s races in several states and cited polling that showed concern about corruption and the economy.

Michele Tafoya, the R-Minnesota senatorial candidate, said, “When Trump is right, I will work with him. When he's wrong, I will stand up for Minnesota.” Representative Ashley Hinson, the R-Iowa senatorial candidate, said, “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.”

Mike Rogers, the R-Michigan senatorial candidate, said, “Here in Michigan, we know that Canada is not our enemy. We need to end this tariff war now.” Senator Susan Collins of Maine said Trump “did not have a good plan” and “should have anticipated the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.”

Candidates Separate From the President

Ohio Republican Congressman Mike Turner said Trump had endorsed him and that he had appeared at a rally with the president. He described his approach this way: “I don't run with the president. I don't run from the president.” Turner added that he had “my own agenda.” He urged people to vote in every race. He won his first race by 244 votes out of 44,000.

Turner said Congress had pushed back against the administration and described himself as part of his community’s economic development team. He said jobs had doubled “both inside and outside the fence” at his local base and that the VA had created senior housing. Turner also said Trump had committed to signing legislation to restore Delphi salaried pensions, which Turner said the Obama administration had taken away. Brennan noted that the legislation had not yet passed. Turner said restoring the pensions would affect more than 5,000 people in his community. He had worked on paychecks and pensions for more than a decade.

Brennan cited a Fox poll in which six in 10 respondents said they were extremely concerned about government corruption. She also cited an AP poll in which six in 10 adults believed Trump was illegally profiting from the presidency or doing something unethical. The Columbus Dispatch said it could not endorse the Republican Senate candidate because of what it called the “abject failure” of Republicans in Congress to stop visible corruption and abuse of power by the Trump administration. It described Republicans as “almost entirely spineless.” Turner replied that the Columbus paper wasn’t his local paper. He said he was from Dayton and argued voters considered individual candidates rather than a team or slate.

Tight Races and Economic Concerns

Anthony Salvanto, the program’s election director and surveys specialist, discussed a CBS Texas poll showing Democrat Talarico and Republican Paxton at 51-49. Salvanto said Talarico did better with independents and people who said they were financially strained by prices. He described Ohio and Alaska as toss-ups, Iowa as leaning Republican but competitive, Kansas as a state to watch, and Michigan and Maine as toss-ups Democrats would need to hold. He said Susan Collins was running for reelection in Maine, a state Kamala Harris had won.

Salvanto said Democratic voters were more likely than Republicans to say they would definitely vote. He added that Republicans hit hard by inflation might stay home rather than vote for Democrats. CBS estimates gave Democrats an edge to take the House, while they needed four seats to take the Senate. The program said the midterm campaign was approaching its final stretch, with the election set for Nov. 3, and that early voting in Texas would begin the next day.

CBS political correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns said Republican sources were concerned Trump was “underwater on the economy,” citing tariffs and the Iran war’s effects on diesel and gas prices. She said Trump faced the challenge of getting voters to turn out for down-ballot Republicans while showing little deference to Congress. Ed O'Keefe said Democrats would need independent voters and some Republicans in traditionally Republican states.

In Kansas, Huey-Burns said no Democrat had won a Senate race since 1932 and that diesel costs mattered to farmers. She described a cattle farmer who supported Trump but was considering voting for Democrat Adam Hamilton for the first time, citing the administration’s decision to allow beef imports. Huey-Burns said Hamilton described himself as a former Republican and wasn’t campaigning on the national party brand.

Campaign Issues Across the States

The program discussed Michigan Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed, whom it described as potentially becoming the first Muslim senator to sit in Congress if elected. Trump called him “a jihadist running in Michigan” and said, “This guy's a jihadist.” O'Keefe said the Republican candidate had also alleged El-Sayed had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and had not denounced the IRGC. El-Sayed said he had no associations with the Muslim Brotherhood and answered “yes” when a voter asked whether he disavowed it. O'Keefe said El-Sayed suggested Republicans raised the issue because he is Muslim or Arab.

The broadcast also featured Florida Democratic Senate nominee and state Rep. Angie Nixon. She said more than 4,000 people attended her rallies the previous day and that her campaign had raised more than $2 million more than her opponent in the past quarter. Nixon said she joined the Democratic Socialists of America in June and supported access to quality health care, fully funded public schools and housing. Brennan said Nixon’s platform called for Medicare for all, a national rent-stabilization standard, a higher federal minimum wage, abolishing ICE and a 5 percent annual wealth tax on billionaires.

Nixon accused her opponent, Ashley Moody, of enriching herself by $2 million through stock trading and having access to insider information through health care committees; Moody denied wrongdoing. Nixon said she wanted the Department of Justice to investigate nearly $10 million she said was taken from Medicaid funds intended for sick children. Brennan said Moody denied wrongdoing. Nixon said more than 300,000 contributions to her campaign averaged about $31. She cited her work to raise Florida’s minimum wage to $15 an hour.

The panel also discussed threatening envelopes containing suspicious substances sent to 36 lawmakers and election officials, many of which federal officials intercepted before they reached Capitol Hill offices. Huey-Burns said federal law enforcement was investigating and hadn’t identified who might be responsible. She said threats against lawmakers and their families had risen by more than 50 percent in the past year.