Michigan Democratic candidates square off in Senate debate: Key takeaways

The Democratic candidates in Michigan’s Senate race squared off in a combative Thursday debate, clashing over foreign and corporate campaign donations.

Rep. Haley Stevens (Mich.), state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Abdul El-Sayed, a former Wayne County Health, Human and Veteran Services director, are running to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) in a competitive Aug. 4 primary contest.

Last month, a poll from Emerson College Polling and WOOD-TV found El-Sayed and McMorrow tied, each garnering support from 24 percent of likely primary voters. Thirteen percent of respondents supported Stevens in the survey. 

Former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) is also competing in the race, with a recent poll indicating that the onetime lawmaker has a slight lead over both McMorrow and Stevens in hypothetical November match-ups.

Here are the key takeaways from Thursday’s debate at the Mackinac Policy Conference in Michigan:

Candidates underscore divides on Israel  

Stevens, a staunch supporter of Israel, has faced criticism for accepting campaign donations from pro-Israel super PAC the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). 

She largely avoided the question when pressed on this funding by debate moderator and Detroit PBS contributor Stephen Henderson, saying that Rogers, the race’s Republican challenger, would not push for campaign finance reform. 

“We squarely need to put people at the front of our agenda,” she said. “Campaigns are about movements of ideas … and I articulate positions of freedom and democracy and what Michigan needs to succeed at the global stage and nationally.”

AIPAC has donated to Stevens’s past House campaigns, and the super PAC has supported her Senate bid through “loophole” donations, according to........

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