Democrat Beto O’Rourke Visits Lubbock Ahead of Future Debate

Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Beto O’Rourke is hosting a town hall event in Lubbock on Tuesday, July 31. The town hall will be held at the Captus Theater in downtown Lubbock at 1 p.m., and is free and open to the public. It will be O'Rourke's fifth campaign even in Lubbock since the beginning of his candidacy.

O'Rourke is challenging current Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the upcoming November 2018 election. Reports say the O'Rourke and Cruz campaigns began a correspondence in April regarding potential future debates between the two candidates, after O'Rourke publicly challenged Cruz to four debates in English and two debates in Spanish.

It wasn't until Wednesday, July 25, however, that the Cruz campaign responded to O'Rourke's challenge with a detailed counter offer of five debates scheduled over the next three months. The following are dates, locations, and debate formats outlined by Cruz's campaign manager, Jeff Roe. Each debate will focus on a set range of campaign issues.

Debate 1: Dallas, Texas. August 31, 2018. Podium format. Jobs/Taxes/Federal Regulations/National Economy.

Debate 2: McAllen, Texas. September 14, 2018. Seated format. Immigration/Border Security/Criminal justice/Supreme Court.

Debate 3: San Antonio, Texas. September 21, 2018. Townhall format. Foreign Policy/National Security.

Debate 4: Houston, Texas. October 5, 2018. Podium format. Energy/Trade/Texas Economy.

Debate 5: Lubbock, Texas. October 12, 2018. Townhall Format. Healthcare/Obamacare.

In response to the initial debate schedule proposed by Jeff Roe, O'Rourke's campaign asked for a few changes. O'Rourke wanted the October 12 debate moved to a later date and asked for a sixth debate to be scheduled in O'Rourke's home town of El Paso, to name a few.

Almost all changes proposed by O'Rourke's team were denied or ignored in Cruz's response letter, but campaign manager Jeff Roe did say that one of the five debates could have their location changed to El Paso.

To end his letter, Roe said he looks forward to working with O'Rourke's campaign on selecting moderators and venue locations for the proposed debates, but reiterated that O'Rourke must first agree to the terms already outlined.