Republicans Inquiry Whether Sanford Can Finish Governors Term
In a statement he issued yesterday, Sanford, 49, said he would reimburse the state for the cost of a trip last year to Argentina, where he met his mistress during a trade mission to that country and Brazil.
While the U.S. Commerce Department sponsored and organized the trade missions, state officials who went along paid their own expenses.
Sanford dropped out of sight last week and resurfaced on June 24 to acknowledge he had been in Argentina seeing a woman with whom he carried on a yearlong affair. He apologized at a news conference in Columbia, South Carolina, and said he “let down a lot of people.” He didnt respond when asked if he would give up the governorship.
Glenn McCall, one of South Carolinas two representatives to the Republican National Committee, yesterday called for Sanford to resign his office rather than serve out the remaining 18 months of his term.
“He has been a strong defender of our values and principles as it relates to other Republicans,” said McCall, a county party chairman. “We have to apply that same rhetoric to ourselves as leaders of the party.”
Hurt Credibility
Other Republicans, while not calling for Sanford to step down, said his actions hurt his credibility and could hamper his ability to govern and promote his state.
“Its not the infidelity; its that leaving his post raises questions which industry leaders are going to look at very hard before relocating” to South Carolina, said Republican consultant Rod Shealy, who worked on the campaign of Sanfords 2006 primary opponent, Oscar Lovelace.
“Its going to be very tough for Mark Sanford to recruit industry for the next 18 months,” said Shealy.
South Carolinas 12.1 percent unemployment rate in May was the third-highest in the nation, tied with Rhode Island behind Michigan and Oregon.
Sanford, a former member of the U.S. House, was first elected governor in 2002 and won re-election four years later. He is barred by state law from seeking a third term in 2010. Before the scandal, he was mentioned as a potential presidential contender in 2012.
Trial Separation
Jenny Sanford had released a statement June 24 that said she asked her husband to leave their home two weeks ago and that their “trial separation” had the goal “of ultimately strengthening our marriage.”
In the statement the governor issued yesterday, he said while the purpose of the trade mission he went on last year that included the stop in Argentina “was an entirely professional and appropriate business development trip, I made a mistake while I was there in meeting with the woman who I was unfaithful to my wife with. That has raised some very legitimate concerns and questions, and as such I am going to reimburse the state for the full cost of the Argentina leg of this trip.”
He didnt disclose those costs.
Band-Aids
“It appears that Mark Sanford is applying Band-Aids while the last of his credibility hemorrhages away,” South Carolina Democratic Party Chairwoman Carol Fowler said of the governors statement. “This latest admission raises more questions than it answers. The people of South Carolina need him to come clean now instead of admitting one thing at a time as others uncover things he has done.”
Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, godfather to the Sanfords youngest child, said he hoped the governor would finish his term. Graham was a House prosecutor in the impeachment of President Bill Clinton for lying about his relationship with an intern. Sanford was a House member at the time and voted for impeachment.