War of words over money escalates in Senate race

HELENA — The Republican challenger in Montana's heated Senate race is calling for a ban on all out-of-state campaign donations.

U.S. Rep Denny Rehberg's proposal also seeks a ban on advertising by all third-party groups.

Earlier this week, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester asked Rehberg to join him in barring third-party advertisements from the race for the Democratic incumbent's seat.

Rehberg proposed Friday to take that idea much further.

Rehberg is calling for each campaign to immediately return all money donated by PACs, lobbyists and anyone who does not live in Montana. He wants to limit future donations to individual Montana residents.

His proposal would impose penalties on any campaign that is aided by third-party allies.

There was no immediate response Friday from Tester's campaign.