McGavick loaning his Senate campaign $2 million

Republican Mike McGavick reached into his pockets Friday and dug out $2 million for his U.S. Senate campaign.

The personal loan comes a month before the September primary and amid a continuing gap in campaign fundraising with his chief opponent, Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell.

The most recent fundraising reports show that McGavick had raised about $4.5 million by June 30 and had $1 million in the bank. Cantwell had raised about $11 million and reported $6.4 million on hand.

"We know that the incumbent senator and her allies are spending and will spend nearly unlimited amounts to win this election," said McGavick in a statement announcing his loan.

Democrats had predicted McGavick eventually would donate to his own campaign.

The former CEO of Safeco collected $28 million in stock and other perks when he left the company this year. Financial-disclosure forms filed with the U.S. Senate list his net worth at between $36 million and $65 million.

McGavick said nearly 70 percent of his contributions have come from donors in Washington state. He called Cantwell "a tireless fundraiser" and said about 60 percent of her contributions are from out of state.

McGavick's $2 million injection triggers the "millionaire's clause" in the federal election-finance rules for his five little-known primary opponents, but not necessarily for Cantwell.

Congress enacted the clause in 2002 to level the playing field for candidates facing rich opponents. Under the rule, if a candidate contributes to his or her race above a certain threshold, an opponent can accept donations larger than the normal limit.

According to McGavick's staff, because the candidates are still in the primary leg of the election, only McGavick's GOP opponents can accept money over the maximum limit of $2,100 per donor for each leg of the election.

"It is abundantly clear that McGavick says 'my opponent Sen. Cantwell' not 'my opponent Brad Klippert,' " Meehan said. Klippert, a Benton County sheriff's officer, is one of McGavick's primary challengers.

In July, Cantwell filed a formal request asking the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to clarify whether a large McGavick donation before the Sept. 19 primary should count toward the general-election campaign.

The FEC treats the primary and general races as separate elections. If McGavick's $2 million donation were considered part of his general-election fundraising, he would pass the self-finance threshold and Cantwell could raise more money from her donors.

Cantwell largely self-financed her $10 million campaign that toppled GOP U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton in 2000. But her personal wealth, composed largely from RealNetworks stock she received as an executive at the high-tech firm, is now down to between $1 million and $5 million, her financial disclosure reports show.

"The difficulty of the situation for Cantwell isn't necessarily the timing of McGavick's donation, but how McGavick ends up spending that money — on his primary or on the general election," said Paul Ryan of the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan election-law think tank. The FEC may take up Cantwell's concerns at its meeting Aug. 29, Ryan said.

Meanwhile, McGavick said his opponents have bought $5 million in television advertising recently, a figure that couldn't be confirmed Friday.

Only Cantwell has purchased any significant television time.

Alicia Mundy: 202-662-7457 or amundy@seattletimes.com