McGavick will miss Bush fundraiser

OLYMPIA – Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike McGavick says he can’t attend a fundraising event with President Bush next month because the date conflicts with his eldest son’s high school graduation.

Bush still is expected to visit Washington state in June, with likely events for the state Republican Party and incumbent Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., McGavick said Tuesday.

But McGavick said he had to turn down an overture from the White House because he is traveling to Pennsylvania for his son’s June 15 graduation.

“We’ve all along said that we would like the president to come to the state and campaign for us and raise money,” McGavick said in a phone interview. “I’m sorry that I won’t be able to be there when he’s here.”

State GOP officials and Reichert’s campaign forwarded calls for comment to the White House, which declined immediate comment. “We don’t announce the president’s schedule that far in advance,” White House spokesman Alex Conant said.

McGavick, former president and chief executive of insurance provider Safeco Corp., is challenging incumbent Democrat Maria Cantwell.

McGavick said he was disappointed that he couldn’t attend Bush’s visit, but said he thought the president would understand that his family commitment had to come first.

“I cannot cut short my son’s graduation,” McGavick said. “It’s where I belong.”

McGavick noted that he hosted Vice President Dick Cheney at fundraising stops around the state in April.

Money from the Cheney visit doesn’t show in campaign finance reports from the first three months of the year, when McGavick raised more than $1.2 million. McGavick spokesman Elliott Bundy has said McGavick had $748,975 on hand as of March 31.