Mark Sanford renews career, must build reputation

Thursday - 5/9/2013, 10:28am EDT

Associated Press

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- Now that former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has resurrected a once-promising political career by regaining his old House seat, he'll have to rebuild the reputation that once earned him praise as a possible presidential contender among colleagues.

The Republican preached fiscal responsibility during his three terms in Congress in the 1990s. But many lawmakers in office more than a decade later know him primarily as the two-term governor who tearfully admitted an affair with a woman in Argentina, which he initially covered up by saying he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. He later paid the largest ethics fine in state history for using state resources for personal travel.

On the campaign trail, he couldn't escape a past that for a time turned his name into a late-night punch line. But voters in the conservative congressional district along the South Carolina coast were willing to accept his promise to protect their pocketbooks and his message of personal redemption. Political observers say it won't be impossible for him to convince fellow lawmakers in Congress to do the same -- even after national Republicans yanked funding from his campaign following recent allegations that he had been at his ex-wife's home without her permission, and other allies seemed to keep their distance.

That trespassing complaint was settled Wednesday, the day before the 52-year-old Sanford was to have appeared in family court to answer the allegation. In the settlement, Sanford admitted that on several occasions he violated the couple's divorce decree by entering Jenny Sanford's home without her permission.





Sanford defeated his well-financed Democratic opponent, Elizabeth Colbert Busch, the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert. She was a political novice who had never held elective office in South Carolina's 1st Congressional District, where Sanford had high name recognition and where voters hadn't elected a Democrat in years.

Although the race was expected to be close, Sanford captured 54 percent of the vote in the district that Republican Mitt Romney won by 18 points last November.

Sanford's past experience does give him an advantage in raising his profile once again -- a key piece of which will include jockeying for committee assignments.


Sanford saw his political career disintegrate in summer 2009 when he disappeared for five days, telling his staff he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. He returned to admit in a tearful news conference he had been in Argentina with his mistress, Maria Belen Chapur. His wife and political ally, Jenny, later divorced.


During the campaign, the National Republican Congressional Committee pulled support from Sanford's campaign after news surfaced he was in his ex-wife's house without permission. Sanford has said he went there on one occasion so his youngest son would not have to watch the Super Bowl alone.

Even some of Sanford's allies held him at arm's length during the campaign. U.S. Sens. Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham, both Republicans, issued endorsement statements a week before the special election. Republican Gov. Nikki Haley appeared at one Charleston fundraiser for her one-time mentor and did no other active campaigning.


