Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont faced off in a Democratic presidential debate in Flint, Mich., on Sunday night, and after finding some early agreement over the state’s mishandling of the water crisis there, the two clashed for the rest of the night on questions including campaign finance, gun control and the auto bailout.

Commentators and pundits shared the opinion that there were no campaign-altering moments, though Mr. Sanders, who was on the attack throughout, occasionally seemed to lose his cool and stumbled a bit when discussing race. Mrs. Clinton managed to stay on her game and stirred excitement by taking some shots at Donald J. Trump. In the end, Democrats were most satisfied that their candidates mustered more decorum than the Republicans.

“I think Hillary Clinton got the better of it tonight. Counterpunched better in key moments. Sanders better on God, fracking and closing statements.” — Dante Atkins, contributing editor to the liberal website Daily Kos

“Clinton came prepared to the CNN debate and more than held her own, preventing Sanders from the clear victory he needs to change the trajectory of the race ahead of Michigan’s primary on Tuesday.” — Alex Seitz-Wald, MSNBC political reporter