Ted Cruz accepts Aug. 31 debate in DFW, but Beto O'Rourke camp want to negotiate details The two candidates for U.S. Senate spar over when and where they might meet for one-on-one showdowns before Nov. 6 Election Day.

John C Moritz Austin Bureau USA TODAY NETWORK | Corpus Christi

Show Caption Hide Caption Cruz and O'Rourke: A few things to know about them The candidates for a U.S. Senate seat from Texas are a study in contrast.

AUSTIN — Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has accepted a proposed Aug. 31 debate with Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke in Dallas, but the El Paso congressman's camp said it hasn't signed off on any one-on-one matchup.

The debate over the debate started Tuesday afternoon after a letter from Cruz campaign manager Jeff Roe to O'Rourke surfaced saying the incumbent had agreed to take part in an hourlong podium-style debate that would be televised by the NBC affiliate in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Chris Evans, O'Rourke's spokesman, then issued a not-so-fast statement that put the fate of the debate in doubt.

"Our designated debate lead reached out via phone several times over the last few weeks to coordinate details," Evans said. "There has been no response to our messages. There is no agreed upon August debate at this time."

On Wednesday, the O'Rourke camp sent a letter back to Roe, essentially saying Cruz was seeking to set the debate rules unilaterally.

"At this point, you have attempted to dictate the dates, times, locations, topics, formats, moderators, media partners, and furniture for debates," said David Wysong, O'Rourke's campaign chief. "It’s not in our fellow Texans’ interests to have all the terms of the debate dictated by one side."

The Cruz camp declined to engage in a back-and-forth over debate negotiations and there are still no decisions on when or whether the two candidates will meet.

Last month, Cruz proposed a series of five debates heading toward the Nov. 6 election. Each would take place in a different city around Texas and each would be held on a Friday evening.

That offer countered an earlier one from O'Rourke for six matchups, including one in Spanish that Cruz promptly took off the table because he lacks the needed language skills.

O'Rourke said he was "encouraged" by Cruz's willingness to debate multiple times and said he looked forward to nailing down all the details.

Staff writer Madlin Mekelburg contributed to this report.

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