U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee wants six debates with Attorney General Rob McKenna in the lead up to the governor's election next November, but McKenna's campaign isn't happy with the initial terms.

A news release issued by the Inslee campaign on Monday calls for splitting the debate locations among central, eastern and western Washington, and having debates on both television and radio. Inslee wants two of the debates to focus on jobs and the economy and one on education.

A letter laying out the plan was sent earlier in the day to Randy Pepple, McKenna's campaign manager, by Inslee campaign manager Joby Shimomura.

"It's hard to take seriously a debate proposal that gets released to the press before we respond, and which has preconditions for the debates," Pepple said.

"Why would I limit it to six?" he asked. "Why would I start from preconditions? We'll agree to the opportunity to do more than six."

Inslee, a Democrat, and McKenna, a Republican, are vying to replace Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire, who is not running for a third term.

Inslee spokeswoman Jaime Smith said the letter was intended to "initiate the conversation."

"We look forward to hearing the proposals from McKenna's campaign," she said.