Fla. Senate Candidate Mack says Divorce is Behind Financial Woes

U.S. Senate candidate Connie Mack explained Sunday for the first time why he spent more than he earned at times, pinning financial problems on his divorce.

“I think it’s ridiculous the fact that the issue has even come up that way,” Mack, the Republican front-runner who has called for fiscal austerity during his campaign, said after a candidates’ forum. “Everyone knows that divorce is difficult.”

Even though his divorce certainly contributed to his financial problems, it does not account for all the troubles he was having.

In 2004, for instance, he didn’t have enough money to pay his federal income taxes, and borrowed the money from his father. He didn’t file for divorce until August 2005 — months after tax-filing season — when his then-wife, Ann McGillicuddy, was on vacation in Fort Lauderdale.

Mack, elected to Congress in 2004, said he could not recall how much he borrowed from his father, former-senator-turned-lobbyist Connie Mack III.