Kuhn said he wouldn't have dipped into his family savings or sought bank loans if he had known Sanford would play such a large role in trying to defeat him during last month's Republican Statehouse primary.

"What's discouraging to me is to realize near the end of the campaign we were running against the governor," Kuhn said Thursday.

He accused Sanford of thinly veiled support for eventual GOP primary winner Chip Campsen. The proof, Kuhn said, came from money Sanford supporters threw in the race and from pro-Campsen statements that came from the governor's press office.

"Had I known from the start that the governor was going to be so involved in supporting my opponent, I'm confident that I would not have put $211,000 of my personal money in," Kuhn said. The money went for billboards, home mail-outs and an unprecedented radio and TV ad blitz.

"Basically, I've lost $211,000," said Kuhn, who lives on Church Street downtown. "We've got a problem. I'm going to have to take this out of my personal funds. It's breaking me."

The governor's office denied Thursday that Sanford played favorites in the Senate District 43 race, which Campsen won after a heated two-week runoff. He collected 57 percent of the vote.

"To try to blame his own campaign's financial mismanagement and bad consulting decisions on the governor is just sour grapes," spokesman Will Folks said. Campsen faces Isle of Palms Democratic newcomer Constance Anastopoulo in November.

During the campaign, signals did appear that Sanford preferred Campsen, a former lawmaker, one-time gubernatorial aide and a personal friend of 20 years. For example, Sanford's picture was featured in a Campsen TV ad.

Sanford also released a statement claiming he was neutral in the race, but in the statement he blasted Kuhn and extolled Campsen's legislative record.

Perhaps most significant was the $1,000 check first lady Jenny Sanford donated to Campsen.

The gift led to a highly publicized confrontation between Kuhn and the first lady in the halls of the Statehouse.

Kuhn also was seen as blocking some of Sanford's government restructuring proposals.

Kuhn's comments come as campaign disclosure reports filed this week with the Senate Ethics Committee show the three Republicans in the race raised or lent their campaigns a combined $658,000, possibly setting a local record.

By comparison, the region's other closely watched Senate primary -- the District 38 race in Summerville -- cost three candidates a combined $310,000. In that race, Randy Scott upset incumbent Bill Branton for the GOP nomination.

Senate Ethics Committee Chairman Wes Hayes, R-Rock Hill, said the District 43 figure may be on the "high side" for a competitive Statehouse primary, but he added elections are getting more expensive every year.

"A lot of things that previously were done grassroots are now being done professionally," he said, mentioning advertising, phone banks and direct mail. "And that costs money."

In the District 43 race, Campsen raised about $203,500, records show.

He has no campaign debt, according to his disclosure report. The third Republican candidate in the race, Charleston City Councilman Henry Fishburne, reported raising about $95,300 in individual contributions with about $36,700 in personal funds thrown in.

Kuhn's debt includes about $50,000 in cash from family savings with the rest in loans secured from a local bank.

He hopes the state and local Republican party will help him out, possibly by sponsoring a fund-raiser to retire the debt.

"I won it for the Republican Party," Kuhn said of his original 2001 Senate District 43 victory that took the seat from Democrats. The district covers parts of Charleston, North Charleston, Mount Pleasant, Berkeley County and the coast.

Kuhn said he'd be hard-pressed to reduce the debt through his own fund-raiser.

"If you don't have the support of the party, it's going to be a miserable failure," said Kuhn, a private practice lawyer specializing in estate planning. "Money is tight." He said if he'd won, he'd have a better chance of sponsoring fund-raisers as a strong incumbent.

Whether financial assistance will come from the state party is unclear, especially with a competitive U.S. Senate race brewing between Republican Jim DeMint and Democrat Education Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum.

"Right now our focus is on fund-raising for the fall and winning those elections," said state GOP Executive Director Luke Byars. "Helping our former incumbents out is on a case by case basis," he added, saying a decision on assisting Kuhn would have to come later from the party's executive committee and chairman.

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