Rogers and El-Sayed are set for their first debate in Michigan's Senate race after online sparring

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed , competing for an open U.S. Senate seat in Michigan, are set for their first campaign debate Thursday after weeks of sparring both online and in advertisements that are flooding the state in one of the nation’s most closely watched races.

For Rogers, a former congressman who was unchallenged in the Aug. 4 primary, the evening debate in Grand Rapids will be his first since facing off two years ago against then-U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin in a Senate race that the Democrat won by just under 20,000 votes.

El-Sayed, a progressive who is a former public health official, participated in multiple primary debates against U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens before capturing the nomination by less than a percentage point and advancing to the Nov. 3 general election.

His debate with Rogers comes after an increasingly combative stretch in the campaign.

El-Sayed, trailing nearly 2-to-1 in ad spending, has crisscrossed the state for events while also sitting for interviews ranging from Fox News to The New York Times’ Ezra Klein. He has often used those appearances to go after Rogers.

“We are running to win the race. He’s running not to lose the race,” El-Sayed said of Rogers during a Tuesday interview with The Associated Press.

Rogers has held fewer public events while outside groups have spent heavily on ads.

Rogers' campaign did not make him available for an interview before the debate. He is scheduled to appear Friday in Oakland County with U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La.

Rogers has broken with President Donald Trump on two major issues in recent weeks. In September, Rogers said the war with Iran needed to “end quickly.” On Wednesday, he released an ad criticizing Trump’s tariffs on Canada, saying “we know that Canada is not our enemy” and “we need to end this tariff war now.”

El-Sayed is working to reunite a Democratic coalition that splintered during the primary and he is trying to appeal to independents and voters who previously backed Trump. Rogers faces a different balancing act as he works to turn out Republicans without Trump on the ballot and competes for moderates.