Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton repeatedly sought to distance themselves from the most unpopular elements of their respective parties Wednesday night during a contentious Kansas Senate debate.

Both candidates battled over President Donald Trump, immigration, the war in Iran and more in a race that could help determine control of the Senate.

The debate opened on a personal note, with both candidates pressed over controversies that have fueled attack ads in the closing weeks of the campaign.

Marshall was questioned about a New York Times review that found his former medical practice sued more than 700 patients over unpaid bills. The Republican defended the practice while emphasizing the millions of dollars in free care his practice provided.

GOP SENATOR ALLEGES SCHUMER BEHIND 'HIT JOB' REPORT ON FORMER PATIENTS

"Every year we gave away $3 to $4 million of charity, but we also had a business," Marshall said. "We had 300 employees, we had a mortgage payment, we had electric."

Hamilton, meanwhile, was questioned about his handling of allegations involving a volunteer at his church's summer camp alleged to have been a sexual predator. Hamilton acknowledged that he should have ensured the individual did not return to the camp after an initial investigation.

"I should have checked to make sure that he wasn't going back," Hamilton said. "That was a mistake on my part."

The candidates spent much of the rest of the debate trying to define each other by their respective national parties.

Marshall repeatedly warned that electing Hamilton would help hand control of the Senate to Democrats and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, while Hamilton sought to portray himself as an independent-minded Democrat willing to break with his party.

THE NINE KEY RACES THAT WILL DECIDE WHO CONTROLS THE SENATE, AND WHERE THEY STAND

That divide came into focus when the moderator played footage of Trump campaigning for Marshall in Kansas earlier this week and telling voters to "pretend, please, that I'm on the ballot."

Asked whether that meant he would support every part of Trump's agenda, Marshall said no and pointed to recent disagreements involving immigration enforcement in southwest Kansas and beef imports.

"Just like with my wife, I can disagree with her. My wife is always right," Marshall joked. "And President Trump is not always right."

Nevertheless, Marshall emphasized his support for much of Trump's agenda and urged the president's supporters to turn out for him.

"We need the Trump voters to come out," Marshall said. "If you want the Trump agenda to continue, if you want secure borders, if you want a strong military, if you want lower taxes, then you — and you voted for President Trump — you need to come out."

Hamilton faced a similar challenge when moderators pressed him over his past support for Democrats and his campaign message of "leading from the middle."

MANCHIN CALLS SCHUMER 'CRAZY' FOR TRYING TO OUST GOP SENATOR IN CRUCIAL SENATE SHOWDOWN

The Democratic nominee explicitly broke with former President Joe Biden over immigration.

"The Biden policies when it came to the border were a disaster," Hamilton said. "I believe in strong and secure borders."

Hamilton also said he would not support Schumer for majority leader if Democrats win control of the Senate.

The debate did produce an unusual moment of agreement when both candidates were asked how many genders there are.

"There's two. There's a boy and there's a girl," Marshall said.

"There are two genders, male and female," Hamilton responded.

SC DEM SENATE CANDIDATE CLAIMS SHE WILL STAND UP TO HER PARTY AS GRAHAM TIES HER TO 'SOCIALIST DEMOCRATS'

Hamilton later said he did not want biological males competing against his 12-year-old granddaughter in sports, calling it "not a fair fight," while arguing that decisions over athletic participation should generally be handled locally rather than by the federal government.

The Kansas contest has emerged as an unexpectedly competitive Senate race in the closing weeks of the midterms. Marshall is seeking a second term in a state that has not elected a Democratic U.S. senator since 1932, while Hamilton, a longtime pastor, has campaigned as a moderate Democrat.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Trump traveled to Kansas Monday to campaign for Marshall as Republicans work to defend the seat with control of the Senate at stake.

LEWISTON, MAINE – Former Sen. Joe Manchin, a longtime Democrat turned independent, took aim at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday for trying to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, calling his former party leader's efforts "crazy" as he joined Collins on the campaign trail in her high-stakes re-election race.

Collins, a moderate Republican who at times has voted against President Donald Trump and her party, is fighting for her political life as she runs for a sixth six-year term representing blue-leaning Maine in the Senate. She is the only GOP senator seeking re-election in a state Trump lost in the 2024 election.

The race between Collins and Troy Jackson, a former state Senate president, is a top flip opportunity for Democrats as they try to win back the Senate majority from Republicans in the midterm elections. The latest public opinion polls indicate a margin-of-error showdown, and the latest Fox News Power Rankings rate the race as a toss-up, as do leading nonpartisan political handicappers the Cook Political Report, Inside Elections and Sabato's Crystal Ball.

Manchin, who worked closely with Collins during his years in the Senate, was asked by Fox News Digital how his campaigning with his former colleague would sit with Schumer, the top Democrat in the chamber.

DEMOCRATS THINK A BLUE WAVE IS BUILDING - HERE ARE THREE FACTORS THAT COULD STOP IT

"Chuck Schumer would not be surprised of me being with my dear friend. There is no surprise there at all. I told him he was crazy in 2020 from working against her so hard and he’s crazy now to work against her," Manchin said, as he referred to unsuccessful efforts by Democrats to defeat Collins in her re-election six years ago, and their current push to oust her.

Manchin emphasized, "This is not right. She is the soul of America. She is the soul of the Senate, and he knows he needs more Susan Collins, no matter what side of the aisle they’re on. This is ridiculous."

Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer's political team and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for a comment but did not receive a response at the time this story was published.

A former West Virginia governor who served in the Senate from 2010 to 2025, Manchin frequently broke with his party, frustrating Democratic Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, as well as Schumer and other Senate Democratic leaders.

As he works to oust Collins from the Senate, Jackson has repeatedly tried to anchor the senator to Trump, who has seen his approval ratings in Maine and across the country drop further underwater.

DEMS SEE NEW CHANCES TO FLIP SENATE SEATS BUT GOP'S MASSIVE CASH ADVANTAGE AN OBSTACLE

But Manchin said that Collins is "not a Trump senator. She's not a Republican senator or a Democrat senator. She's an American senator that represents her state of Maine ... the most independent minded person I've ever met."

Collins noted that "Joe and I were part of every bipartisan initiative that passed the Senate and became law during the years that we worked together ... I just so enjoy our partnership in getting things done for Maine, for West Virginia and for America."

Manchin and Collins spoke with reporters after meeting with restaurant workers and customers at Simones' Hot Dog Stand, a famed local eatery in downtown Lewiston that's been serving customers for a century. It was the first of two campaign stops in Maine's 2nd Congressional District, a key swing district.

Collins and Jackson last week faced off on the debate stage for the fourth and final time. The senator used the debates to showcase how her Senate seniority has helped her deliver federal funding for Maine. Meanwhile, Jackson used the showdowns to position himself as an outsider who understands the struggles and frustrations of working-class voters.

SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER

Jackson won a special nominating convention in late July to claim the party's Senate nomination, which was left vacant after primary winner Graham Platner ended his campaign following allegations he raped a woman he previously dated. Platner denied the allegations but dropped out.

Jackson, who earlier this year unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, had campaigned alongside Platner during the primary campaign.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Collins, meanwhile, has a history of surviving Democratic efforts to unseat her.

Six years ago, she trailed Democratic challenger Sara Gideon, the Maine House speaker at the time, but Collins won re-election by nearly nine points while former President Joe Biden carried the state by a similar margin.

Fox News' Kailey Schuyler contributed to this story.

Investor Bill Ackman called the Democratic Party "crazy, radicalized and anti-American" during an interview on Tuesday, arguing that the party is "in a very bad place."

"I think the Democratic Party is in the worst place it's ever been, in the 250-year history of the country," Ackman told Katie Miller, host of the "Katie Miller Podcast." "I think it's become like this crazy, radicalized, you know, anti-American thing. I think it's — and by the way, I think there's some very high-quality Democrats, you know, senators and, sure, some congressmen — but the party itself, I think, is in a very bad place."

Ackman specifically named Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as someone he used to be friendly with but now believes has "compromised" on his values.

FORMER BERNIE SANDERS OPERATIVE WARNS RADICAL LEFT HAS 'OVERTAKEN' THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY FROM WITHIN

"And I think the problem with people who've chosen to be a politician for a career, you either have to get with the party in order to continue, or you get primaries," Ackman said. "You know, actually, Senator Schumer, I had a good relationship with him over the years. I thought he was a good man. But in recent years, I felt he's just trying to keep his job." 

"And, you know, that's the really low point for politicians when they'll compromise on their values, and they'll support, you know, a quasi-terrorist, perhaps running for Senate in Michigan, because they have to for the party," Ackman said. "Stuff like that to me is, or terrorist supporter, is not, that's, I find that pretty, deeply concerning."

Schumer's office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

"Chuck Schumer has been in Washington long enough to know exactly what’s happening to his party. The question isn’t whether he sees it. It’s whether he’s willing to do anything about it," Y. David Scharf, chair of Morrison Cohen’s government strategies and controversies practice, told Fox News Digital of Ackman's remarks. 

"There’s something remarkable about watching one of the most powerful Jewish Democrats in America struggle to stand up to the very people in his party who are alienating Jewish voters," he continued. "Bill Ackman isn’t asking Schumer to become a Republican. He’s asking him to act like the Democrat he spent decades telling us he was."

EX-DSA MEMBER RIPS ABDUL EL-SAYED AND WARNS FAR-LEFT ADOPTING POLITICS OF FOREIGN TERROR ORG

Ackman appeared to reference Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who has faced questions over his family's alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

El-Sayed's campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

The controversy followed a Washington Free Beacon report about social media posts in which El-Sayed's half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, described her family's history with the Muslim Brotherhood.

In one 2012 post, Abdelhadi described a conversation with her and El-Sayed's mother, Fatten Elkomy, about her involvement with the organization during college in Egypt.

"Had an amazing talk with my mom about her activism in the Muslim Brotherhood during the early '70s while she was in college #respect," she posted to X.

El-Sayed has denied any family connections to the group. During a recent interview with NBC's "Meet the Press," El-Sayed rejected the assertions when asked to set the record straight.

"I have no ties; we have no ties," El-Sayed said.

During a town hall on Saturday, El-Sayed responded to a man identified as Tommy, asking him whether he would disavow the Muslim Brotherhood.

"Sure," El-Sayed said. "Yeah, absolutely. But I want to ask the question that you're asking: Why are you asking the question?"

ABDUL EL-SAYED GROWS AGITATED WITH REPORTER AFTER BEING PRESSED ON FAMILY'S ALLEGED MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD TIES

Ackman has also previously voiced his opposition to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, criticizing his policies as harmful to the city.

"I'm not a fan," he responded. "He's very smart, very charismatic, very good at politics, but I think the decisions he's making are very bad for New York."

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

When asked if he'd consider running for mayor, Ackman responded, "I would say possibly, but I think I could achieve a lot more by helping a very talented person do that job."