Rehberg in Wyoming for fundraiser this weekend

The reward offered by a senate candidate to find out where one opponent would be instead of at a scheduled debate may go unclaimed, with the answer provided by a Montana television news team.

Montanans for Tester issued a release Thursday evening saying the campaign of Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., had offered two tickets to a September Pearl Jam concert in Missoula for anyone who could prove where Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., would be instead of at a debate that had been set for the weekend.

A Bozeman television station reported Thursday that Rehberg would be at a fundraiser in Wyoming Saturday with Republican Senator John Barasso. Tester's campaign had not told the Havre Daily News by this morning if the tickets were being offered to the television station.

A debate scheduled for Sunday at a Montana Broadcasters Association meeting in Whitefish was canceled after Rehberg said he could not attend.

Chris Bond, Rehberg's campaign communications director, said this morning that the campaign had tried to work with the association to hold the debate Sunday, to which the campaign says it never received an invitation.

"We cleared (Rehberg's) schedule for Sunday in order to get him to Whitefish as soon as possible Sunday morning. This cancelation would not be happening if Greg MacDonald of the MBA had done his job and sent us an invitation, " Bond said. "When we found out he had announced our participation without so much as inviting us, much less getting our confirmation, we reached out and bent over backward to make this happen. "

Bond said the campaign is working with individual broadcasting association members to arrange other debates.

Bond confirmed that Rehberg would be at Barasso's campaign event. He said Rehberg canceled his Sunday and Monday plans so he could make the Whitefish debate if it were scheduled later than 9 a. m.

After Rehberg's campaign said he could not make the 9 a. m. debate Sunday, the broadcasters association originally said it would continue the debate with Tester and Libertarian candidate Dan Cox, but announced Wednesday it was canceling the event.

The broadcasters association said it had discussed the planned debate with Rehberg's campaign several times over the year.

Tester's campaign said he had confirmed several months ago that he would debate at the event.