It looks as if Mike McGavick, the self-financed GOP challenger to Dem Senator Maria Cantwell, is going to be able to spend unlimited funds on his campaign -- even as Cantwell remains stuck fundraising at the Federal $2,000-per-contributor limit. And the Federal Election Commission may not be willing to do anything about it, despite Cantwell's hopes that the agency would step in.

The Cantwell campaign recently asked FEC lawyers to allow her to raise more funds, as per the Millionaire's Amendment, the Federal law which frees up fundraising for opponents of self-financed candidates. But Roll Call (paid subscription required) reports that FEC lawyers have written an opinion turning down the request -- and the FEC commissioners are likely to rule accordingly.

The FEC lawyers opined that McGavick is not technically her opponent until after the Sept. 19 primary, so for now the amendment doesn't apply, they wrote.

The only silver lining for Cantwell was the determination that she could invoke the amendment if McGavick transfers pre-primary funds over to the general election--though McGavick could also deplete his funds just before the primary and contribute to himself later. If the Commission upholds the opinion, this would have far-reaching implications for self-financing candidates and their opponents, especially in states with later primaries.