With their election just a few months away, U.S. Rep. Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke has announced his hopes to debate Senator Ted Cruz six times between now and November. The O’Rourke campaign is hoping to have two of the six debates in Spanish.
O’Rourke is Cruz’s Democratic challenger for the U. S. Senate seat that he currently holds. Each won their respective primaries in March. However, Cruz won his primary handily, whereas O’Rourke won his primary by a much smaller margin than expected. Cruz is expected to win in the general election by a large margin.
O’Rourke made a fuss about debating Cruz even before he made it past his primary election. Because of this, O’Rourke has been routinely criticized by the runner-up of the Democratic primary, Sema Hernandez. Hernandez received 24 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary, and trounced O’Rourke in several key Democratic border counties. Despite her loss, the self-proclaimed “Berniecrat” Hernandez has still not endorsed O’Rourke over Cruz in November.
While it remains to be seen if any debate will take place, both candidates are on board for at least one prior to the election. Cruz is widely known on both sides of the aisle for his abilities as a debater, something O’Rourke has admitted publicly. Should it occur, O’Rourke will face an uphill battle trying to curb his notorious cussing while debating a much more seasoned opponent in Cruz.