WATCH LIVE: Ted Cruz, Beto O'Rourke Face Off During Debate in Texas Senate

Republican Senator Ted Cruz will face Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke in Dallas on Friday, the first debate on the Texas Senate race.

The debate between Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Beto O'Rourke will begin at 7 pm AND. Watch live in the player above.

The one hour debate is hosted by the Dallas Morning News, Southern Methodist University and KXAS-TV. The debate – the first of three scheduled debates in the race – will take place at Southern Methodist in front of a live audience.

Cruz led in the polls, but his lead has declined in recent months. According to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Tuesday, Cruz would have won 54 to 45 percent, but most polls showed him a lead of about 5 points over O'Rourke. (An Ipsos / Reuters / University of Virginia survey released Wednesday puts two points ahead of O'Rourke).

O'Rourke, a third-term US Congressman representing the El Paso region, defeated Cruz, known as a prolific fundraiser, without accepting CAP money. O'Rourke spends Cruz 3-in-1 on TV commercials, which has attracted Republicans' attention.

Conservative groups began investing money in the race, which was once considered an easy reelection for Cruz. Texas remains a conservative state, and no Democrats have won elections there since the mid-1990s. But the race in the Senate is closer than expected.

President Donald Trump plans to hold a rally in Texas in October to galvanize Cruz's support for the November elections.

O'Rourke's campaign focused on access to affordable health care, the modernization of immigration laws and the adoption of the DREAM Act to protect undocumented youth from deportation. Cruz runs on a strong economy and a stricter application of immigration.