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Democrat Jon Ossoff will not debate Republican Karen Handell in nationally televised broadcast

In a Friday, Feb. 10, 2017 photo, Democratic candidate for Georgia's 6th congressional district Jon Ossoff poses for a portrait in Atlanta. Former Georgia Congressman Tom Price is President Donald Trump's new health secretary, and that means there's a high-profile special election coming that will give Republicans and Democrats a test run ahead of the 2018 midterms. Ossoff will try to pull off an upset over Republican Karen Handel in a district Republicans have held since 1979.  (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
In a Friday, Feb. 10, 2017 photo, Democratic candidate for Georgia's 6th congressional district Jon Ossoff poses for a portrait in Atlanta. Former Georgia Congressman Tom Price is President Donald Trump's new health secretary, and that means there's a high-profile special election coming that will give Republicans and Democrats a test run ahead of the 2018 midterms. Ossoff will try to pull off an upset over Republican Karen Handel in a district Republicans have held since 1979. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) In a Friday, Feb. 10, 2017 photo, Democratic candidate for Georgia's 6th congressional district Jon Ossoff poses for a portrait in Atlanta. Former Georgia Congressman Tom Price is President Donald Trump's new health secretary, and that means there's a high-profile special election coming that will give Republicans and Democrats a test run ahead of the 2018 midterms. Ossoff will try to pull off an upset over Republican Karen Handel in a district Republicans have held since 1979. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

ATLANTA — Democrat Jon Ossoff has declined to participate in an Atlanta Press Club debate with Republican Karen Handel that CNN had proposed to broadcast.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Ossoff declined Sunday to participate in what would have been a nationally televised debate.

In a statement sent to CNN, Ossoff spokeswoman Amy Messner said the campaign only committed to debates moderated by “the metro Atlanta press corps.”

Georgia’s 6th District contenders will participate in two televised debates this week: Tuesday on WSB-TV and Thursday on WABE-TV/PBA 30, an Atlanta-based PBS station.

In the run-up to the April 18 vote both Ossoff and Handel attended more than a dozen forums and debates but the two campaigns have struggled since then to agree on scheduling of subsequent debates.