Texas governor's race: Abbott, O'Rourke set for televised debate, hosted by Nexstar

HARLINGEN, Texas (Nexstar) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and challenger Beto O'Rourke will meet for a televised debate hosted by Nexstar Media Group at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on Sept. 30.

O'Rourke announced Thursday he accepted an invitation, nearly a month after Abbott accepted an invitation to the debate. This will be their only face-to-face debate during the campaign ahead of Election Day, Nov. 8.

The debate is scheduled for 7 p.m. at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Nexstar will host and televise the debate on KXAN and 13 other markets throughout the state, joined by KSAT-TV in San Antonio.

Additional details regarding the debate and press availability will be announced later this month.

In addition to the Nexstar-hosted debate, O'Rourke accepted invitations to four town-hall style debates in different areas of Texas. Abbott has not agreed to any debates beyond this one.

Nexstar Media adopted a set of criteria to determine which candidates are eligible to participate in a debate, which includes a requirement that a candidate must receive at least 10% support in an established, professionally-conducted, non-partisan poll leading up to the election.

A candidate also must have raised at least $50,000 in campaign contributions to be eligible.