AUSTIN (July 23, 2012)--The two Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate are scheduled to debate one last time Monday as early voting starts across the state.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz will face off Monday night in Houston sponsored by a tea party organization, the King Street Patriots.

KVIR, the Houston Fox affiliate, will broadcast the debate.

The two men are in a fierce and expensive battle for the Republican nomination.

Both campaigns have produced vicious attacks in radio and television commercials in recent weeks.

Dewhurst has criticized Cruz for the clients he's represented in appeals cases, and Cruz has attacked Dewhurst's record presiding over the Senate.

National conservative groups back Cruz, while Gov. Rick Perry has campaigned for Dewhurst.