Updated 9:30 a.m. July 11 with comments from O'Rourke.

WASHINGTON — More than two months have passed since Rep. Beto O'Rourke challenged Sen. Ted Cruz to debates. Cruz has said repeatedly that he fully intends to, when the time is right.

So far, the moment hasn't arrived.

The campaigns exchanged letters this week showing the congressman nudging Cruz to commit, and the senator still playing for time.

"He was a Princeton debate champ. This is his thing," O'Rourke said on Wednesday. "I don't in any way think that this would be easy but I do think it's necessary."

But he said, "It's been hard to pin him down."

The El Paso Democrat's campaign manager wrote Monday to Cruz aides, noting the lack of movement since an initial proposal more than two months ago to set up debates.

"On April 24, we extended an invitation to Senator Cruz to participate in six debates — including two in Spanish — reaching all twenty media markets in the state," O'Rourke's campaign manager, Jody Casey, wrote on Monday.

That letter set a May 10 deadline for a response and when 60 days passed, Casey reiterated the request.

"Because Senator Cruz recently indicated that he is uncomfortable debating in Spanish, our campaign would be happy to add two additional debates in English instead," she added.

Bryan English, a senior adviser to the Cruz campaign, replied the same day, acknowledging the letters of April 24 and July 9.

"As you pointed out in your second note, the Senator has made it quite clear he is looking forward to debating Congressman O'Rourke. However, your arbitrary timeline for coordinating between the campaigns remains irrelevant to our decision-making process.

"We will let you know when we are ready to discuss the details of joint appearances."

The Cruz campaign declined to elaborate.

Cruz was a top competitive debater at Princeton University. He argued nine cases at the U.S. Supreme Court, many as the state's chief appellate lawyer. He held his own through a dozen debates against Donald Trump and others in the 2016 presidential primaries, plus eight other candidate forums.

Frame grab from CNN health care debate on Feb. 7, 2017, between Sens. Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz. (CNN)

A number of news outlets in Texas, including The Dallas Morning News and a group of television stations, have offered to host senatorial debates. There's still plenty of time — nearly four months.

Texans, O'Rourke said, "deserve to be able to make the most informed decision at the ballot box in November" by hearing the competing visions for Texas and the country on such pressing issues as the Supreme Court, health care, job creation and immigration.

"I don't mean to diminish the challenge. Ted Cruz is a masterful debater. I can't remember how many times he debated in the Republican primary in states all around the country," he said.

A Spanish-language debate is off the table.

Cruz's father emigrated from Cuba, but the senator has called his own command of the language "lousy." In his 2012 primary fight against David Dewhurst, then the lieutenant governor, he also declined a challenge to debate in Spanish.

"A debate in Spanish would not be very good because my Spanish isn't good enough, but I look forward to debating Congressman O'Rourke," Cruz told reporters in early May, a week after O'Rourke's initial debate gambit.

Before and since, he has repeatedly stated that he will debate O'Rourke — at some point closer to Election Day.

In March, he noted that he had debated Sen. Bernie Sanders on CNN several times last year, proving, he quipped, that "I am not remotely afraid to debate left-wing liberal socialists."

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