Pubdate: Wed, 21 Jun 2006
Source: Miami Herald (FL)
Copyright: 2006 The Miami Herald
Contact:  http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/262
Author:  Mary Ellen Klas
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

GOVERNOR'S RACE - GALLAGHER'S FAMILY VALUES TAKE HIT WITH REVELATIONS

Tom Gallagher's admission that a 1979 extramarital affair led to his 
divorce forced the candidate for governor to leave the script of his 
family-focused campaign.

TALLAHASSEE - Tom Gallagher, the Republican state chief financial 
officer running for governor on a platform of family values, admitted 
Monday that he had an extramarital affair that led to his 1979 
divorce and said he used marijuana before he was elected to public 
office "many, many" years ago.

Gallagher, 62, conducted an impromptu news conference with his wife, 
Laura, after The Tampa Tribune asked him about 26 pages excerpted 
from his 27-year-old divorce file, expunged from Miami-Dade court 
files years ago in a routine purging of dated records.

The revelations come as Gallagher courts religious conservatives, who 
have embraced him, in part, because he is married and has a 
7-year-old son. They see him as more of a committed family man than 
his GOP primary opponent, Attorney General Charlie Crist, who remains 
single after a divorce in 1980 following seven months of marriage.

The divorce documents, as well as additional court records obtained 
by The Miami Herald, show that Gallagher's ex-wife, Ann Louise, 
kicked him out of their Miami home in 1979 when she discovered he had 
been having a yearlong affair with a Tallahassee legislative aide.

At the time, Gallagher was a state representative from Coconut Grove 
and owned a Tallahassee condominium, leased by his then-girlfriend, 
Stephanie W. McBee.

After Ann Louise filed for divorce in 1979, an allegedly intoxicated 
Gallagher returned to their home and tore a screen off the house, the 
court documents say. The next day, he returned and took the dog. Ann 
Louise Gallagher asked a judge for a restraining order.

The apparently sympathetic judge, Milton Rubin, told Tom Gallagher: 
"You're a public figure. You don't need any adverse publicity."

The judge then agreed not to "embarrass" him with a restraining order 
as long as Gallagher agreed to stay away from the home until the 
divorce was final.

Girlfriend Testifies

In a copy of a September 1979 deposition of McBee obtained by The 
Miami Herald, the former girlfriend testified that during 1978 and 
1979, she traveled with Gallagher to Atlanta, Texas, California, 
Miami, Orlando, West Virginia, Washington, D.C., Delaware and Nassau 
in the Bahamas. She stayed at his Miami home for three days when his 
wife was in Michigan, and he gave her gifts.

McBee testified that in 1979, she spent three days with Gallagher in 
Nassau, where they "went to dinner, saw a show, swam, laid on the 
beach and read."

McBee said she gave Gallagher gifts as well, including a handmade 
needlepoint belt that Ann Louise Gallagher later found and burned.

Gallagher's mother, Hope. D. Gallagher, testified that after Ann 
Louise filed for divorce, her son asked her to go into the couple's 
home and retrieve a family heirloom, a grandfather clock.

"If she burnt a belt, she might do the same thing to . . . things 
that are irreplaceable," the elder Gallagher testified.

A contrite Tom Gallagher said on Monday he does not regret that the 
documents have become public, and that he takes full responsibility 
for his past. "Divorces are messy, but I take full responsibility for 
what led to mine," he said. "It was totally my fault."

A Different Man

But Gallagher emphasized that he is not the same man who first sought 
the Republican nomination for governor in 1982, when he had a 
reputation in Tallahassee as a bon vivant and ladies' man.

"I know that many of you have been somewhat skeptical about some of 
the changes that have taken place in my life -- that it's some kind 
of a campaign strategy," Gallagher said. "But I'm here to tell you, 
Christ does change lives, and I'm a different person because of it."

Gallagher credited his wife, Laura, a telecommunications lawyer and 
devout Southern Baptist, with turning his life.

Laura Gallagher said she wanted people to know that "Tom and I 
discussed all of these issues before we were married, including his 
divorce and even that he tried marijuana.

"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," she said.

The candidate said that although he used marijuana, he never used 
other illegal drugs.

Crist's campaign would not comment on the Gallagher divorce 
documents, but noted that as a candidate for state commissioner of 
education in 2000, Crist disclosed he had tried marijuana when he was 
in school.

"It was a mistake and he regrets it," said Crist spokeswoman Vivian Myrtetus.

Gallagher's closest supporters from the religious right sent out 
missives late Monday affirming their support despite his past.

"The crux of our faith is the cross, is repentance, is redemption," 
said John Stemberger, a leader in the Florida's Christian 
conservative movement. "I've been around awhile. I've known people 
who are what I call phony political conversions, but I've spent a lot 
of time with Tom and Laura and I think he's genuine."

Miami Herald staff writer Gary Fineout contributed to this report.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman