The campaign of U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Fort Morgan) released an open letter to fellow congressional candidate Betsy Markey (D-Fort Collins) on Thursday, challenging her to accept three debates which Musgrave had already accepted.

Musgrave accused her 4th Congressional District opponent of dodging her public responsibility to maintain a civil discourse by allowing Markey's "radical" supporters at the Defense of Wildlife Action Fund of making "reprehensible" anti-Musgrave ads.

"I believe it is our responsibility as candidates for Congress to present our positions directly to the voters through civilized public debates, without the filter of false campaign commercials coming from deceptive special interest groups like the reprehensible and misleading television ads paid for by the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, the same radical environmental organization that endorses you," Musgrave wrote.

As Musgrave noted today, the letter was a follow up to one that she sent on June 18 that challenged Markey to the same three debates, to which Musgrave’s campaign said she received no response.

The debates would be held in Fort Collins, sponsored by the Coloradoan; in Greely, sponsored by the Young Democrats and the Young Republicans; and on the radio, sponsored by KCOL 600AM and the Greely Tribune.

Markey campaign communications director Ben Marter said Markey had not responded because they have been working with the news organizations that extended the invitations to debate.

"We've actually been doing a lot of scheduling today and we are proceeding," Marter said. "We've been invited by the sponsoring organizations, so we've been dealing with them."

He also said that although Musgrave's statement was billed as an "open letter," he hadn't heard about it until PolitickerCO.com contacted him.

"[Jason Thielman, Musgrave's campaign manager] sent it to you guys but not us," he said.

According to Marter, the debates will definitely happen later on in the race, but problems had to be worked out in scheduling.

"The sponsoring newspapers are partnered with TV stations," Marter said. "They're working around a possible presidential debate and the Udall/Shaffer debates, but I suspect that in October, that's when they'll happen."