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STEVE BOUSQUETThe more of their own money Doug Gallagher and Karen Saull spend on their U.S. Senate campaigns, the more other candidates can collect from donors.
TALLAHASSEE - The cost of Florida's U.S. Senate race could soon skyrocket because of an obscure provision of the new federal campaign finance reform law.
Republican Doug Gallagher, a wealthy software executive from Coral Gables, has doubled his personal stake in the race to $2.6-million as he starts a three-week run of statewide TV ads promoting his candidacy.
Gallagher's decision appears to trigger the so-called millionaire's amendment under the McCain-Feingold law. The provision is designed to prevent a wealthy candidate like Gallagher from overwhelming his opponents with personal money.
The seven other Republicans in the Senate race could soon be able to accept as much as $6,000 from individual contributors, three times the normal limit, as long as they don't collect more money than Gallagher in the primary. Gallagher is also collecting campaign contributions, but they comprise only a fraction of his total.
The result could be a rapidly escalating big-money primary campaign, as other candidates turn to existing contributors over and over to try to keep pace with Gallagher's millions.
Gallagher, who puts his net worth at more than $50-million, is spending lavishly on staff and consultants. Running as an outsider and a successful businessman with a name familiar to Florida Republicans - his brother is Florida's Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher - he might pour even more money into his first bid for statewide office.
"I don't think races like this are decided on dollars alone," Gallagher said.
Another wealthy candidate, Karen Saull of Vero Beach, plans to pour millions into her campaign too, driving the cost of the race even higher.
Saull, who has not appeared publicly with her opponents, was filming TV ads near her home Thursday, an adviser said.
"Karen is going to run a highly competitive campaign in every market in the state," said Rick Wilson, a Saull campaign strategist. "I don't have a dollar figure for you."
The millionaire's amendment in McCain-Feingold uses a complex mathematical formula based on a state's voting-age population. The threshold for triggering the provision grows out of the formula, according to the Federal Election Commission.
When a wealthy candidate hits that threshold, as Gallagher did this week, his opponents can triple their individual donations. If Gallagher quadruples the threshold, and spends $5.2-million of his own money, his Republican opponents can collect $12,000 from their contributors, or six times the normal maximum.
Under the law, a self-funded candidate is required to notify opponents within 24 hours of making a personal contribution of more than $10,000.
Gallagher filed a notice on Monday with the FEC that increased his personal contributions in the race to $2.5-million. At a news conference, Gallagher deflected questions about whether he planned to increase his stake in the race.
The 55-year-old executive owns Gallagher Financial Systems, which markets software used in home mortgage applications. In his stump speech, Gallagher talks about borrowing $14,000 from a 401(k) in 1985 to start the company. He says it did $30-million in sales last year.
A rival GOP candidate welcomed Gallagher's cash infusion.
"It's a good thing for us," said David Johnson, a spokesman for Miami lawyer Larry Klayman. "We're planning some big fundraisers and it means they can give more money."
But another rival campaign was less certain about the impact of Gallagher increasing his own spending. "We don't know exactly what it means yet," said Shannon Gravitte, a spokeswoman for former U.S. Rep. Bill McCollumn.
The FEC asked that all campaigns wait a day or two for an advisory opinion before asking for more money from donors.
- Times researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report.