McGavick: Beer at series of parties led to '93 arrest

A day after divulging "two great failures" in his personal life, U.S. Senate candidate Mike McGavick acknowledged Friday that he had been drinking beer for hours before his drunken-driving arrest in Maryland in 1993.

McGavick said he was driving home from the last of three parties with his now-wife, Gaelynn, when he ran a red light and was stopped by police.

"I realized right away that I shouldn't have been behind the wheel," he said.

McGavick, a Republican challenging Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell, posted an open letter Thursday on his campaign Web site, saying he wanted people to know "the very worst and most embarrassing things in my life."

He said his 1991 divorce and the arrest were his two greatest personal failures. His top professional mistakes were a misleading campaign ad in 1988 and his handling of layoffs in 2001 at Safeco, where he was CEO.

But McGavick provided few details about the arrest, prompting Internet discussions about how much he had to drink.

McGavick said on Friday that he was drinking "mostly beer," though he did not recall how much. He said his blood-alcohol level was 0.17 percent.

It's impossible to be precise about how many drinks that would be; an online calculator run by the University of Oklahoma says a 180-pound man would need about eight 12-ounce servings of beer in an hour to reach 0.17 percent.

A person typically would lack physical control, have blurred vision and "major loss of balance," according to a police analysis with the calculator.

In Maryland and this state, too, 0.08 is now the legal limit.

McGavick said a court evaluation determined he was a social drinker, and he was sent to alcohol-awareness classes. A state law let him keep the DUI off his record by completing probation and paying a fine.

McGavick said he doesn't drink much now. "I enjoy a beer with friends from time to time, or a glass of wine with my wife."

Susan Kelleher: 206-464-2508 or skelleher@seattletimes.com