ST. LOUIS–With less than a month remaining until the August 2 primary election, it’s getting harder to hear the top candidates in the state’s highest-profile race in the same setting.

One day after an upcoming statewide debate on KMOV-TV that hoped to feature Democratic party U.S. Senate hopefuls  Trudy Busch Valentine and Lucas Kunce fell apart when Busch Valentine reportedly didn’t respond to invitations, KTVI-TV shelved a statewide Republican U.S. Senate debate set for next week. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, station management said it couldn’t get commitments from all the major candidates, without identifying them by name.

U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, during a Senate campaign stop in Troy, Mo. Thursday afternoon, said former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens and Attorney General Eric Schmitt refused to commit to the event.

“Our opponents are airing ads of themselves with flamethrowers, flash grenades, and sniper rifles, but remain in hiding at the possibility of answering questions about their records,” Hartzler Campaign Manager Mike Hafner said later in a news release.

The Hartzler campaign said it was ready to commit to a new debate hosted in Springfield by the Gray Television station there on July 19. 

A Schmitt spokesperson said the campaign had already been in two debates that Greitens had refused to join.

The most recent independent polling in the race shows a virtual dead-heat between Hartzler, Schmitt and Greitens, but Schmitt spokesperson Rich Chrismer says it’s a two-man race.

“If Eric Greitens agrees to participate, Eric Schmitt would look forward to the opportunity to put his record as a proven conservative fighter who fights and wins for Missouri, up against Eric Greitens’ record of quitting on Missouri,” Chrismer said in an emailed statement.

The Greitens campaign confirms it will be part of a Monday debate in St. Louis to be hosted by conservative media outlets Real America’s Voice and The Gateway Pundit. Organizers say they have also invited Schmitt, Hartzler and U.S. Rep. Billy Long. Long has said he will attend, but Hartzler's campaign said the date posed a scheduling conflict. 

The Schmitt campaigns did not immediately respond to a followup question on the topic.