President Trump's approval rating stood near 37 percent, The New York Times reported, as Democratic Senate candidates in Georgia, Maine and Michigan spent Thursday night's debates trying to tie their Republican opponents to him. Republican allies, meanwhile, are voicing concern about November.
The pressure points were economic. The debates covered the economy, tariffs and the war in Iran. The Times said the war was driving up gas prices, while tariffs were hurting farmers and people along the Canadian border. The Wall Street Journal reported that Republican strategists and advisers see 2026 as one of the most difficult political environments for an incumbent party in recent memory: prices are higher, the United States is at war with Iran, and the president's approval rating is the lowest in decades heading into a midterm.
Georgia: Tariffs and Trade Questions
In Georgia, Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff asked Republican Rep. Mike Collins at least eight times how Trump's tariffs had helped Georgians. He also criticized Collins over the Iran war and his vote for Trump's domestic policy bill, which included cuts to Medicaid and health insurance premiums. “Whatever Donald Trump says,” Ossoff said, “Mike Collins does.”
Collins trails in polls, and some Republicans have shifted resources elsewhere. He hit back on affordability and character, calling Ossoff a “trust fund kid who's never had a job in his life” and saying Ossoff didn't care about gas prices because he “wants you riding on mass transit.” Financial disclosures put Ossoff's primary holding, a blind trust, at between $1 million and $5 million. Ossoff countered that Collins presents himself as an everyday trucker while owning a trucking company worth as much as $25 million.
Collins also challenged Ossoff on election integrity, criticizing his opposition to the SAVE America Act, federal voter-identification legislation that would impose stricter ID rules and require proof of citizenship to vote. “People will go vote when they have confidence in our elections,” Collins said.
Ossoff made serious allegations about aides with white nationalist and antisemitic views. A Collins spokesman said two people tied to a group founded by a former Klan member were unpaid volunteers, and the campaign didn't know about their past associations. Collins didn't directly deny the allegations. He said he had “condemned racism, antisemitism, hate.”
Maine: Collins Distances Herself
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine sought distance from the president. She said she had voted against Trump's signature domestic policy bill and the war. “Nobody has been more outspoken against the Canadian tariffs than I have,” she said. Polls show her neck-and-neck with Democrat Troy Jackson in a race that could decide Senate control.
Jackson accused Collins and her husband of profiting from the Iran war, citing her husband's disclosed stockholdings in two aerospace companies with Pentagon contracts. The Times reported that both companies' stock prices have fallen since the war began, and that Collins has voted to end the war since April. Collins called the accusation “absolutely outrageous” and demanded an apology.
Jackson inherited the Democratic nomination after Graham Platner withdrew following a rape allegation that Platner denied. Asked whether the campaign was his own, Jackson said, “Well, it isn't my own campaign. It's the people across Maine — it's their campaign.” On term limits, he said, “Absolutely. I mean, we have them in Maine.” Collins, seeking a sixth term, answered, “That's what you have elections for.” She also noted that Jackson, a former Republican, had opposed abortion protections in earlier years.
Michigan: Security and Spending Clash
In Michigan, former Rep. Mike Rogers defended Flock Safety cameras as useful for catching people suspected of terrorism. “Why would that bother you?” he asked. He said U.S. support for Israel was a matter of national security.
Democratic nominee Dr. Abdul El-Sayed wouldn't say whether Iran or Israel posed a greater threat, calling it “a ridiculous hypothetical.” He said “both of them have proven dangerous in their own way” and asserted that Israel was responsible for pushing the United States into the Iran war. He also defended a proposal that would have more than half the board members at leading AI companies publicly appointed or democratically elected rather than chosen by shareholders. “If the corporations and their C.E.O.s are right that this is going to take nearly 50 percent of our white-collar jobs, I think it's important for the public to have a real stake,” he said.
Rogers said local governments should decide whether to allow data centers and voiced hesitation about federal rules. El-Sayed's campaign denied Rogers's insinuations about his supporters. The race is among the country's most expensive Senate contests. The second debate is set for Oct. 21 in Detroit.
The Money and the Map
In New York, Trump traveled to Syracuse to rally for Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County executive and Republican nominee for governor. A Siena poll found that 40 percent of upstate voters approved of Trump. Gov. Kathy Hochul led Blakeman by nine points and held $19 million in cash against his $178,000, after a $10 million contribution from the state Democratic Party. Kevin Ryan of the Onondaga County Republican Committee argued that New York is among the highest-taxed states. “The costs to do business here are tremendous, which is why we have to give away tax breaks to companies like Micron to come here,” he said. “But yet, a Democrat is going to complain about affordability and try to blame it on Republicans.”
The Times said Democrats are on offense, as they were in 2006 and 2018, though redistricting has reduced the number of competitive House districts. Democrats hold 215 seats and need to flip three. In the Senate, they must hold every seat and flip at least four. Former President Obama warned donors that races showing two- or three-point leads “could end up losing all of them by two points. It's within the margin of error.”
Why This Matters:
The debate numbers point to a party defending an unpopular president on kitchen-table issues: gas prices, tariffs and the cost of living. Voters tend to judge incumbents on affordability, and Republicans are being asked to explain tariffs and a war while distancing themselves from the man who launched both. Margins are thin. The outcome may turn on a few points, as Obama himself conceded. For readers who favor limited government and fiscal discipline, the contest also tests whether proposals like public control of AI company boards gain traction, or whether voters prefer lighter-touch, locally decided approaches. Control of the Senate, and with it confirmations, spending and oversight, hangs on a handful of races.