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."