DALLAS – With a week to go before the first proposed U.S. Senate debate in Texas, Beto O’Rourke’s campaign said the Cruz team has finally returned its calls and begun a dialogue on when, where and how the two candidates will meet.
“The two campaigns are in discussion. Hope to know more soon,” said Chris Evans, O’Rourke spokesman, in an email to WFAA.
“We are confirmed and planning to attend,” said Jeff Roe, Cruz’s campaign chairman. “And we have spoken to the O'Rourke campaign every day.”
In reality, it remains uncertain if a debate between the two candidates will actually happen a week from Friday.
Texas hasn't seen anything like this in years; a Democrat who skateboards through a Whataburger parking lot giving an incumbent Republican Senator a very close race.
Cruz wants five debates spread out between Dallas, McAllen, San Antonio, Houston and Lubbock. Beto wants six – with that extra one happening in his hometown of El Paso.
"You know the question as we get closer - are we going to see any debates at all? I think we will. I think it's probably to both candidates' advantage to debate. Now that we have the prospect of five debates out there I think we'll see maybe three, maybe four. Maybe we'll actually get five,” said Ross Ramsey, co-founder and executive editor of The Texas Tribune.
Cruz wants debates to remind Republicans to show up for him. Beto needs debates since a third of Texas voters in recent polls say they don't really know him, Ramsey added.
The first debate that Cruz proposed is supposed to be August 31 – a week from tomorrow – in Dallas. But the campaigns haven’t reached an agreement on any details of it.
"You know, time is getting short. It could materialize. We all know you can throw together something very, very quickly but you've got to get both campaigns going and get them synced up on what the topic is going to be,” Ramsey continued.
The other big statewide campaign at an impasse over debates is the governor's race.
Republican incumbent Greg Abbott proposed to debate once – on a Friday night in September. Democrat Lupe Valdez wants more people to see it and suggested a date in October.
In an appearance for WFAA’s Inside Texas Politics to air on Sunday at 9 a.m., Valdez was asked whether she is willing to skip a debate altogether if Abbott does not change the date. “You know, we're still working on negotiations,” Valdez told WFAA.
The Valdez race isn’t nearly as close as the senate race – with Abbott leading by 20-points. But like Beto, Valdez needs to introduce herself to Texas voters.
On her WFAA appearance, Valdez was also asked whether she expects a debate will happen at all. "Well, I'm certainly pushing for it,” she said.
The governor’s campaign suggested it is moving forward with plans for the debate next month. “We’ve agreed to the September 28 debate and hope our opponents campaign will as well,” said John Wittman, spokesman for the Abbott campaign.
Abbott versus Valdez and Beto versus Cruz are the two highest-profile races in the state this year and it remains uncertain if Texas voters will ever see the candidates appear together.