by WILL FOLKS
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Former United States congressman, two-term governor of South Carolina and 2020 presidential candidate Mark Sanford is on the comeback trail… again.
Can he avoid the pitfalls of other trails he’s hiked this go-round, though? Because our audience will recall his recent history on that front has not been encouraging…
Nonetheless, the notorious “Luv Gov” submitted paperwork on Monday morning (March 30, 2026) to run for the Palmetto State’s first congressional district, a seat he has held twice previously during his political career.
Sanford’s decision, formalized just hours before the closure of South Carolina’s candidate filing period, confirmed our reporting from two weeks ago regarding his intentions.
Previously, Sanford had been considering a challenge against veteran incumbent warmonger Lindsey Graham.
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Sanford, 65, of Dale, S.C., served three terms in the U.S. congress from 1995-2001 – earning plaudits for his staunch fiscal conservatism. After making good on his term limit pledge (one of the few politicians to walk the walk on that issue), he was elected governor of South Carolina in 2002 – serving a pair of four-year terms. Well-positioned as one of the top Republican presidential prospects ahead of the 2012 election cycle, Sanford’s promising career imploded when he was caught traveling to South America to visit his mistress, María Belén Chapur.
The implosion began on Monday, June 22, 2009 when one of Sanford’s political rivals – then-state senator Jake Knotts – told reporters the Palmetto State’s chief executive had been missing for four days and that his security detail had no idea where he was.
Sanford’s wife, Jenny Sanford, also stated she was unaware of her husband’s whereabouts.
Sanford proceeded to lie to his staff – telling them he was “hiking the Appalachian Trail” (which has since become a euphemism for engaging in extramarital affairs). From there, things unraveled quickly… with the governor’s habitual navel-gazing regarding his relationship status providing much of the momentum for his downfall.
The dramatic events that imploded Sanford’s political career were recently revisited by CNN’s Jake Tapper as part of a documentary series entitled United States of Scandal.
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RELATED | AS THE TRAIL TURNS…
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Sanford rebounded from his scandal in the spring of 2013, winning a special election to the same first district seat he’d held prior to becoming governor. His resurgence was fueled by governor Nikki Haley‘s decision to appoint then-congressman Tim Scott to the U.S. Senate – creating an opening in the first district.
Sanford’s second trip to Washington, D.C. was nowhere near as principled as his first. Once revered for standing firm on his fiscal convictions, Sanford 2.0 was an establishment Republican hack – which is one reason he was vanquished in the 2018 GOP primary for his seat by then-state representative Katie Arrington.
It is also why national Republicans totally ignored his 2020 presidential flirtation…
Sanford’s most recent brush with fame was his affair with 33-year-old Olivia Nuzzi, a former New York magazine/Vanity Fair reporter who covered his 2020 presidential bid. Exposed by Nuzzi’s former fiancé, Ryan Lizza, Nuzzi admitted to the relationship in her 2025 book, American Canto.
The first district seat for which Sanford is campaigning is being vacated by incumbent U.S. congresswoman Nancy Mace, who is running for governor. A crowded field has emerged in the hopes of replacing her. Numerous candidates have filed for this seat including state representative Marvin “Mark” Smith, Dorchester County councilman Jay Byars, retired United States Air Force (USAF) colonel Alex Pelbath, physician/entrepreneur Sam McCown, Charleston County councilwoman Jenny Costa Honeycutt (daughter of influential Republican national committeewoman Cindy Costa) and nationalist conservative Tyler Dykes.
Smith was first out of the gate blasting Sanford, saying the Lowcountry “does not need a comeback tour.”
“Mark Sanford is back — not because the Lowcountry asked for him, but because he cannot give up the spotlight,” Smith said. “South Carolinians remember exactly who he is. A governor who went missing. A politician who turned his back on President Trump. A person who espouses term limits and runs again and again. And a candidate voters rejected the last time he was on the ballot — a race that helped hand this seat to a Democrat.”
This is a developing story… please check back for updates.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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15 comments
Can we file Mark in the “Bauer and Sheheen file” and call it a career for him?
He made a Serious Mistake. That Does Not make him Terrible at looking after our Country! I will Support Him!
He’s truly an a hole. He’s treats people as beneath him. His ex wife is a saint for ever being with him at all.
You have Never made a Mistake? You Are a Saint? What Skeletons are In Your Closet?
Made plenty, but didn’t lie to people and break vows that I made. He’s a class a POS
You have Never made a Mistake? You Are a Saint? So you consider yourself PERFECT???
We don’t need another Rand Paul / Thomas Massie RINO….and that’s what he will be.
He’d of had a better chance defeating Lindsey in the primary.
You know, in the past, I would have thought his prior actions would be a career-ender, but, he likes sex with adult women; he has never raped or molested anyone; to the best of our knowledge, he has only had one affair and never went to Epstein Island or attended cocaine orgies. So morally, he is almost a saint by Republican standards.
This dude is like some kind of special strain of Argentinian STD. The whole taxpayer-funded flight he did to cheat on his wife would have been worth it if he were kept quarantined there. I can envision his dumb plywood-and-spray-paint signs going great with that doofy looking Leatherface knock-off.
And you are a Saint that has Never Sinned??
Remember when he took marine corps money meant to keep houses out of the way of airplanes and then a jet almost crashed on his house? Cant make this stuff up. Little know fact, call sign of the jet: Skil Saw
I guess your are a Saint?
None of these guys are claiming to be saints. You’re just playing the hyperbole angle. We can and should have higher standards for the conduct of our leaders who are given the privilege to hold these positions. Cheating on your wife and using the taxpayer’s dime to it WHILE IN OFFICE falls below the standard most people hold. And apparently, according to the news reports, Sanford afterwards slept around with a woman he knew to be married or engaged. Speaks volumes as to his desire to straighten up and fly right. It doesn’t mean we want to see Sanford harmed or ruined, it doesn’t mean he can’t eventually make his way in polite society. In the pre-Clinton-Lewinski era 99% of men busted for what he did would withdraw from the spotlight and focus on personal rehabilitation and trying to save your family if possible. Sanford can’t seem to read the room because he is apparently blinded by his own sense of self-importance and has no-one in his life to grab him by the lapels and shake some sense into him. I say, “no thanks!”
You are NOT Perfect! None of us are! He is Human, like the rest of us! You do Not know the other side of the Issue with his ex-wife!!