Bitter personal attacks and Trump’s war in Iran highlighted in Thursday’s Senate debates in Alaska and Maine
Candidates faced off in heated debates Thursday night in two of the country’s most competitive Senate races, showing how bitter — and personal — each contest has become.
In Maine, Democratic nominee Troy Jackson told GOP Sen. Susan Collins to “shut up” after she suggested a protester was one of his supporters. And in Alaska, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan questioned Democratic opponent Mary Peltola’s “character” while citing allegations she mistreated staff.
“I think that Alaskans have had it up to here with the lying and dishonesty,” Peltola said during another exchange. “Dan, you should be ashamed of yourself.”
The races are unfolding thousands of miles apart but both critical to the Senate majority. Collins, a moderate Republican, is seeking reelection in a blue state, while Sullivan is running for another term in more GOP-leaning Alaska where Peltola, a former congresswoman, is well-known.
Both debates showed how much of a political liability President Donald Trump’s war in Iran has become for Republican incumbents. Sullivan said it “needs to end soon,” while Collins continued to insist Trump should have consulted Congress on the conflict.
Here’s a look at key moments from the debates.
US Sen. Susan Collins and Democratic candidate for the US Senate Troy Jackson are seen during their debate at the Gracie Theatre in Bangor, Maine on Thursday.Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images
A protester disrupts Collins on data centers
The fourth and final Senate debate in Maine grew heated as Collins and Jackson sharpened their attacks.
Within minutes, a protester shouted at Collins about the impact of data centers, forcing the debate to a brief halt.
“AI data centers are destroying our climate. They are poisoning our waters,” the protester yelled.
Following the incident, Collins said the protester “is obviously one of Troy’s supporters.”
“Oh, shut up,” Jackson replied, saying he did not know who the person was.
Corruption allegations and campaign financing in Maine
During the Collins-Jackson debate, both candidates tried to portray their opponent as corrupt, a major theme that has loomed over the hotly contested race and the midterms nationally.
Collins cornered Jackson for not sharing his FEC report with her on Wednesday, a promise he made at their debate earlier this week.
Jackson said he missed his self-imposed deadline because it took longer to process the donations from 200,000 people to his campaign than he expected.
“I had to make sure this report was right. It was my first one,” Jackson said.
Throughout the campaign, Jackson has framed Collins as being influenced by her donors and touted that he doesn’t take any corporate PAC money. Collins tried to flip the script on Thursday by dinging Jackson for running joint ads with his party’s Senate campaign arm, which does take money from corporations, and for not disclosing his donors.
Jackson said he did not control their donations to the Senate campaign committee but did concede his campaign has taken money from billionaires.
“That is accurate. But I haven’t made any deals like Senator Collins has with those billionaires. I don’t owe them any votes. I am going to tax those billionaires when I get to the US Senate. So, if they want to give me money during this campaign, I guess that’s up to them,” Jackson said.
When it was Jackson’s turn to ask Collins a question, he got personal. In defending his credentials and pushing back on Collins’ critique that he doesn’t have the right experience, Jackson exclaimed, “Is it just me that you look down on or is it working-class people overall?”
Collins further distances from Trump on Iran war
Collins doubled down on her criticism of the Iran war as the Maine Republican continues to distance herself from Trump.
When asked if Congress should have been consulted before Trump decided to go to war, Collins said, “Congress definitely should have been consulted.”
But Collins added that that the War Powers Resolution gave Trump the flexibility to act unilaterally within the first 60 days of the conflict, which she said is why she did not start voting to rein in Trump’s war powers until after those initial 60 days had passed.
Senator Dan Sullivan and Democratic challenger Mary Peltola debate on October 15, 2026.KTUU
Iran war’s consequences also hangs over Alaska debate
Sullivan repeatedly had to grapple with issues where Trump has not made the race easy for him. The war in Iran, for example, has led to especially high fuel costs in Alaska.
Sullivan said he has opposed limiting Trump’s Iran powers because he supports the overall goal of preventing the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But he said the war “needs to end soon.”
“The energy costs from this war are too high, but … the best way to bring down costs with regard to energy in Alaska is to produce more energy by and for Alaskans,” Sullivan said, suggesting Peltola could not be trusted to support that.
Peltola blamed Washington politicians for “waging forever wars that are skyrocketing our costs.” And she scoffed at Sullivan’s pivot to the topic of domestic energy production.
“I have been a strong supporter of drilling in Alaska,” she said. “That is not the issue here.”
Sullivan continued to show daylight with Trump when asked about Trump’s plan to buy Russian diesel. He reiterated his opposition, saying, “I don’t think it’s a good ideal at all,” and noting he “just led the effort” to pass new sanctions on Russia in Congress.
Sullivan, Peltola spar over her treatment of staff
Sullivan and Peltola clashed twice over a September story from The New York Times that alleged staff mistreatment by Peltola. In the article, her campaign pushed back on the suggestion she regularly abused her staff but said she occasionally “struggled to deal with her grief” after her mother and husband died in 2023.
“I do not think that this election is about me on my worst day, and I found so many of these allegations concerning and outright fabrications or mass exaggerations of the truth,” Peltola said at the debate when asked about the Times report.
Sullivan emphasized that the story was based on interviews with nine former staff members and at least 20 other people.
“It’s not Mary Peltola on her worst day,” Sullivan said. “It’s Mary Peltola over the course of a couple years with dozens of people weighing in on this.”
Sullivan brought up the Times story on his own earlier in the debate, saying Peltola has “treated young Alaskans horribly” and that it was “a character flaw.” Peltola called it “gossip” and “unfounded allegations” as Sullivan talked over her.
