While in Chicago, U.S. Senate Republican nominee Lincoln writes to his opponent Senator Stephen A. Douglas, and proposes that the two candidates square off in a series of debates. Republican State Central Committee Chairman Norman B. Judd "hand" delivers Lincoln's note to Douglas. Lincoln indicates that Judd "is authorized to receive your answer; and, if agreeable to you, to enter into the terms of such arrangement." Abraham Lincoln to Stephen A. Douglas, 24 July 1858, CW, 2:522.