LANSING - Michigan's Republican gubernatorial candidates will be able to spend whatever they want on their primary campaigns, now that Ann Arbor venture capitalist Rick Snyder has given his campaign at least $340,000.

The donation lifted the $2 million spending cap his opponents faced if they accepted public matching funds before the August 2010 primary.

Campaign spokesman Jake Suski won't say how much Snyder has given, but says the personal donation shows Snyder's intention "to win and reinvent Michigan." The candidates' first campaign finance reports aren't due until the end of January.

GOP candidates Pete Hoekstra, Tom George and Tim Rujan have checked boxes on their campaign forms saying they'll take public funds. Mike Bouchard and Mike Cox are still deciding.

Secretary of state spokesman Ken Silfven said Thursday that any Democratic candidate who accepts matching funds still will face the $2 million cap during the primary, unless a Democratic candidate also gives at least $340,000 to his or her own campaign.

But if Snyder wins the Republican nomination next August, both he and whoever wins the Democratic nomination can spend an unlimited amount of money even if the Democrat takes public matching funds in the general election.

"It's really an issue of fairness," Silfven said of the rules lifting the caps once a candidate or an immediate family member gives at least $340,000. "If one candidate has the resources where they can put in $340,000 into their own campaign, then it's really not fair to cap the other candidates."

Democrats Alma Wheeler Smith of Washtenaw County's Salem Township and John Freeman have checked boxes saying they'd take public funds in the primary, but Lt. Gov. John Cherry so far has not indicated what he'll do. Democratic House Speaker Andy Dillon is mulling a run but has not filed any campaign paperwork.