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Castro and Patrick Set to Debate Immigration

A Twitter fight leads to an unlikely result — an immigration debate between Julián Castro and Dan Patrick

Candidate for Lt. Governor, Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, makes a point to Evan Smith at TribLive on September 19, 2013.

A Twitter fight has led to an unlikely result — an immigration debate between San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro and state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston.

According to a statement from Patrick's office sent out late Friday afternoon, the pair have agreed to an encounter although details are scarce right now. The challenge to debate was the culmination of a heated conversation on Thursday via Twitter between the two politicians. Patrick, who is also one of four Republicans vying for their party's nomination for lieutenant governor, sent this throwdown to Castro, who delivered the keynote at the 2012 Democratic National Convention:

"@juliancastro talk is cheap mayor, if you want to debate this in San Antonio, tell me when and I'll be there."

Castro responded:

"Let's do that, @DanPatrick . How about it, @evansmith ?"

Evan Smith, the CEO and editor-in-chief of The Texas Tribune, confirmed that he's been approached by both camps to moderate the debate. He said he's amenable to taking part and that details on time and place are being worked out.

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