Mike McGavick, the former Safeco Insurance chief executive,revealed during his U.S. Senate campaign yesterday that he once hada Maryland drunk driving charge while serving as an insurancelobbyist and he regretted his handling of layoffs at Safeco.

Mr. McGavick--a Republican who is running against Sen. MariaCantwell, D-Wash., in the November election--made unsolicitedrevelations about "the very worst and most embarrassing things inmy life for you to know" on the Web writing in his campaignBlog.

Mentioning the fact that there had been a recent suit filedalleging he improperly took a $28 million severance package when heleft Safeco, Mr. McGavick wrote: "I know that the character attacksagainst me will not stop. So, how about I just tell you directlythe very worst and most embarrassing things in my life?"

Mr. McGavick said he regretted his divorce from his first wifeand the fact that he was cited for DUI in 1993 while driving hissecond wife, Gaelynn, "home from several celebrations honoring ournew relationship."

Mr. McGavick told the Seattle Post Intelligencer that the DUIcharge, in Montgomery County, Md., was dismissed after he wasfined, underwent a year's probation and took an alcohol awarenesscourse.

At the time, Mr. McGavick was a lobbyist with the AmericanInsurance Association in Washington. He said he was still hauntedby the event.

In his professional life, he said he regretted that while atSeattle-based Safeco, after a round of layoffs in 2001 and withresults improving in 2002, "I told my team that I thought the worstwas behind us because I believed that it was. This led to real andjustified hope by my Safeco colleagues that there would be no morelay-offs.

"I was wrong to raise such hopes. Several months later, itbecame clear that we still were not competing effectively, and itwas not until after another round of layoffs that we really wereable to turn the ship and set the company on the course it is ontoday."

Mr. McGavick said "the heart-wrenching decisions to let peoplego will stay with me forever."

He also admitted to running a congressional campaign thatunfairly accused a candidate of supporting legalization ofmarijuana.

Candidate McGavick said he apologized for his mistakes and hopedthat he could now get back to discussing real campaign issues.