Companies linked to Penthouse donated thousands to Tom Gallagher's gubernatorial campaign.
By STEVE BOUSQUET, Times Staff Writer
Published July 15, 2005
TALLAHASSEE - After faulting rival Charlie Crist for sloppy campaign recordkeeping, Republican Tom Gallagher faces a much racier issue: His campaign for governor accepted thousands of dollars in campaign funds from companies tied to Penthouse magazine.
Although the campaign has returned corporate contributions from Penthouse, it has kept thousands more donated through other businesses controlled by Marc Bell, chief executive officer of Penthouse Media Group.
The revelation could be especially troublesome for Gallagher, the state's chief financial officer, who trails Crist in the polls. Gallagher has shed his moderate image, replacing it with a message emphasizing his wife and 6-year-old son and "the values that keep families strong."
Gallagher returned six $500 Penthouse checks totaling $3,000 from companies at the same New York City address. His campaign report listed two donors as Penthouse Media Group and Penthouse Images Acquisitions. A clerk deposited the checks.
"I have a strict policy of not accepting contributions from entities that don't share the mainstream Republican values I believe in. We will not take that kind of money," Gallagher said in an interview. "I think we did the right thing. As soon as we found out, we sent it back."
The six checks were initially sent under the name of a holding company and not Penthouse, Gallagher said, and it was not clear from the checks that the money was linked to the pornographic magazine.
But as Gallagher struggles to distance himself from a pornography empire, Gallagher's campaign is keeping thousands of dollars more in contributions from companies owned by Bell, a South Florida investor.
"Marc Bell owns a variety of corporations," Gallagher campaign manager Brett Doster said. "Those contributions not in keeping with Tom Gallagher's core philosophy are refunded or returned."
Gallagher's campaign records show he received the maximum $500 contribution from at least a dozen Florida companies in which Bell is listed in state records as an officer. Most are limited liability companies in Boca Raton, and some have street addresses as names, such as 138 San Marco Drive LLC, 3678 Princeton Place LLC and 3780 Coventry Lane LLC. Others are Marc Bell Capital Partners I and II and Gard Entertainment.
Bell wrote a $500 personal check to Gallagher's campaign, and his business partner, Daniel Staton, Penthouse's chief financial officer, donated $500.
Gallagher said he had no answer for why Penthouse was supporting his campaign.
"I guarantee you, they weren't solicited," he said.
Bell offered a different version.
"We were invited to a fundraiser. Some people went. Nothing more than that," said Bell, who declined further comment.
Like Gallagher, Crist is in damage control mode over his fundraising and has returned $15,000 in donations that were over the legal limit.
Crist, the attorney general from St. Petersburg, filed an amendment with the state elections office Monday, listing 31 refund checks. Most of those were refunds of campaign contributions that exceeded the $500 limit on contributions, but Crist returned two $500 checks from a strip club in Bradenton called the Peek-a-Boo Lounge and its owner.
The money was part of Crist's record-setting quarterly haul of $3.8-million that he raised during May and June. Crist sent back $2,000 to Leblanc Construction in Louisiana and refund checks of $250 or $500 to two Tampa donors, one in Clearwater and one in Trinity in Pasco County.
"Some people were more generous than they should have been," Crist said. "I just think it was an innocent mistake."
Crist said his campaign is scrambling to fix another problem in his report: the occupations of nearly 2,000 donors are not listed, as state law requires.
As it deflected Gallagher's criticism Thursday, Crist's camp delighted in Gallagher's embarrassment.
"This is delicious," said Crist adviser J.M. "Mac" Stipanovich, a lobbyist and Republican strategist. "They can climb down off their high horse now. What part of "Penthouse' don't you understand?"
The scrutiny surrounding both men's fundraising represents the beginning of what will be an unprecedented examination of their fitness to hold the state's most powerful political post. Crist and Gallagher are seeking to replace Gov. Jeb Bush, who is prohibited by the state Constitution from seeking a third term in 2006.
- Times researcher Deirdre Morrow contributed to this report.
