Pubdate: Tue, 20 Jun 2006
Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL)
Copyright: 2006 Orlando Sentinel
Contact:  http://www.orlandosentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/325
Author: John Kennedy, Tallahassee Bureau Chief
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

CANDIDATE SAYS HE HAD AFFAIR, USED MARIJUANA

TALLAHASSEE --  Republican Tom Gallagher admitted Monday that he 
smoked marijuana more than 25 years ago and had an extramarital 
affair, two startling revelations stemming from court documents from 
his 1979 divorce.

Gallagher's acknowledgment of smoking pot prompted his GOP opponent, 
state Attorney General Charlie Crist, to remind voters that he, too, 
had once used the drug -- as Florida's race for governor suddenly 
turned confessional.

Gallagher, the state's chief financial officer, has built his 
campaign around his devotion to family and faith. During a conference 
call with reporters, he spoke publicly at length for the first time 
about the breakup of his earlier marriage.

"I take full responsibility for my actions being the reason for the 
divorce, and they speak for themselves," said Gallagher, 62. "I made 
some mistakes in that marriage, and I regret those."

Joined on the call by his wife, Laura, Gallagher said he decided to 
come forward after The Tampa Tribune showed his campaign about 25 
pages of documents concerning his divorce from Ann Louise Gallagher.

The documents included a transcript of a combative exchange between 
lawyers over what appears to be his estranged wife's request for a 
restraining order, as well as a former aide's account of an affair 
she had at the time with Gallagher, then a Miami-Dade County state 
representative.

"I've done some things earlier in my life that were not right," 
Gallagher said Monday. "And I'll never defend them or make excuses. 
But I've learned from those mistakes, and I believe I've become a 
better person for them."

Laura Gallagher said her husband told her about the circumstances of 
his first marriage's breakup before they wed in 1998. The couple have 
a son, Charlie, 7, who, like Laura, frequently attends Gallagher 
campaign events.

"Tom and I have discussed all of these issues before we were married, 
including his divorce and even that he tried marijuana," Laura 
Gallagher said. "It's difficult to acknowledge past mistakes like 
this, but it's something we all have to do -- and I'm proud of Tom 
for doing that. I love my husband."

Gallagher said he smoked marijuana more than 25 years ago but could 
not remember the exact date. He said he has not used any other illegal drugs.

Conservative supporters of Gallagher were quick to praise him for 
confronting the missteps of his past during an era when he was known 
as one of the Capitol's most freewheeling partyers.

"The electorate is very forgiving as long as a person is honest and 
straightforward," said John Stemberger, an Orlando lawyer and 
president of the Florida Family Policy Council. "Everybody knows 
about Tom's past -- it's no surprise. But I'm very impressed by the 
way he's responded."

The revelations clash with the political turf Gallagher has tried to 
claim as his own in his Republican primary fight with Crist, who 
continues to lead in most polls.

Brad Coker, managing director of Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, said 
marijuana use isn't the same political stigma it once was for voters, 
who also aren't shocked by most details that emerge in divorce cases. 
"I don't think this is going to be very damaging," Coker said.

Monday, Crist's campaign said the candidate had smoked marijuana 
during his college days but came to consider it a mistake he now 
regrets. Crist acknowledged drug use during his 2000 campaign for 
education commissioner, the campaign said.

Gallagher said little about allegations contained in the June 13, 
1979, transcript of a court hearing in which he was accused of being 
drunk, breaking a door lock to enter his then-wife's home and 
threatening her mother in an effort to retrieve his sheepdog, 
Samantha. But he insisted he wasn't intoxicated or acting in a 
belligerent manner.

"I went to get my dog -- it was the wrong thing to do and I shouldn't 
have done it -- and I regret that I did it," Gallagher said. "It's 27 
years ago, and lawyers on both sides get all worked up in these things."

Gallagher refused to speculate on how the Tribune got the documents 
about the breakup of his 10-year marriage.

Vivian Myrtetus, a Crist spokeswoman, replied "absolutely not," when 
asked whether that campaign had provided them to the newspaper. 
Myrtetus also said she was not aware of any Crist supporters who 
might have obtained the documents and passed them on.

Janet Weaver, executive editor of the Tribune, said she had a 
"general idea" of how the paper got the court material but declined 
to disclose it. She said, however, the story the paper had been 
working on centered on Gallagher's treatment by the court system at 
the time of the divorce.

In the transcript released Monday, the unidentified judge presiding 
over the Gallagher hearing at one point tells him, "I do not want to 
embarrass you by entering an order that would be a matter of public record."

The judge also earlier told Gallagher that he did not want to have 
anything in the record that could be used "against you in the future 
in one of your future campaigns."

After several more pages of fierce exchanges between the lawyers, the 
judge said, "It's a lucky thing that these two litigants have got me 
as a judge to protect them against you two lawyers."

Gallagher at the time responded, "Amen."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman