Finance limits apply to Cantwell

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sen. Maria Cantwell, Washington Democrat, will have to abide by campaign-finance limits even though challenger Mike McGavick donated $2 million to his campaign, the Federal Election Commission ruled yesterday.

In a unanimous decision, the FEC said the so-called millionaires' amendment -- which lifts donation limits for anyone facing a candidate who self-finances a campaign -- applies only to Mr. McGavick's Republican primary opponents, not Miss Cantwell.

The decision means Miss Cantwell will have to stick to the limits, at least until the state's Sept. 19 primary.

But the Federal Election Commission (FEC) said money donated by either Miss Cantwell or Mr. McGavick to their respective primary campaigns could help trigger the millionaires' amendment, if the money is used in the general election campaign. Both Miss Cantwell and Mr. McGavick are expected to win easy victories for their respective parties' nominations.

The election commission did not specify how pre-primary donations would be counted in the fall campaign, but said, "Senator Cantwell and Mr. McGavick must use a reasonable accounting method to determine the amount of personal funds available for use in the general election."

The decision was a setback for Miss Cantwell, who had argued that Mr. McGavick, a wealthy former CEO of Safeco Insurance Co., could spend up to $10 million to finance his election challenge.

Even with Mr. McGavick's Aug. 11 loan, Miss Cantwell continues to hold a wide advantage in campaign cash. As of June 30, the most recent report, she listed more than $6.4 million on hand, compared with $1 million for McGavick.

Miss Cantwell pumped an estimated $10 million of her own money into her first Senate campaign, in which she narrowly defeated Republican Sen. Slade Gorton in 2000. Her net worth was mostly stock options acquired during the dot-com boom of the late 1990s and thus has since plummeted.

Miss Cantwell's most recent financial-disclosure forms listed two assets each worth from $1 million to $5 million -- her RealNetworks stock, and the outstanding loans that she made to her 2000 campaign. Her net worth in 2000 was estimated at almost $50 million, $44 million of it from RealNetworks stock.