Detroit, Michigan — Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers will skip a Fox 2 Detroit debate Tuesday, accusing moderator Roop Raj of showing bias toward Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed.
Rogers’ campaign said Raj had behaved in ways “inconsistent with the level of gravity” expected from a moderator in a major Senate race. Among its complaints, the campaign cited Raj’s handling of a Republican gubernatorial debate and comments in which he called Rogers a “veteran politician” while describing El-Sayed as an outsider who was “pretty brilliant in many ways.”
Fox 2 invited both candidates to the Sept. 15 debate shortly after the August primary. El-Sayed accepted, while Rogers did not. The station said the debate would proceed with El-Sayed and an empty podium for Rogers, adding that the invitation remained open.
Raj has publicly urged candidates to participate in debates and said Monday that he and Rogers have had “very good, fair and productive” conversations. He also said he would moderate with “integrity and responsibility.”
El-Sayed previously challenged Rogers to five debates. Rogers has agreed to two others scheduled for Oct. 8 and Oct. 21.
Michigan’s open Senate race has drawn national attention, with Rogers seeking the seat after narrowly losing his 2024 Senate bid and El-Sayed advancing after defeating Rep. Haley Stevens in the Democratic primary.
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