Mark Sanford Files Last-Minute Bid For South Carolina House Seat
Former governor and congressman filed for the June 9 GOP primary for South Carolina's 1st District, entering a crowded field with more than $1.3 million available for his campaign.
New York PostMark Sanford attempting a congressional comeback months after allegation of affair with Olivia Nuzzi
Daily BeastScandal-Scarred Republican Plots Return to Old Job
PBS NewsHourMark Sanford makes a last-minute bid to return to Congress in South Carolina
ABC NewsMark Sanford makes a last-minute bid to return to Congress — again — in South Carolina
Overview
Mark Sanford filed candidacy paperwork hours before the filing deadline to run in the June 9 GOP primary for South Carolina's 1st Congressional District, which he previously represented.
The seat is open because Rep. Nancy Mace is running for governor, and Sanford said he was running to raise the alarm on the rising national debt.
Months after Olivia Nuzzi's ex-fiancé alleged Sanford had an affair with the journalist, Sanford filed to run for the 1st District seat.
Sanford enters a crowded primary with roughly 10 other Republicans and 4 to 7 Democrats, and he holds more than $1.3 million in a federal account and more than $1 million in a state account.
Sanford can use his campaign funds as he pursues the June 9 primary, and his state account funds could be transferred to an outside group supportive of his bid.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame Sanford's comeback primarily through his past scandal and electoral vulnerabilities, using loaded terms ("notoriety", "marred") and prominent placement of a critical opponent quote. They foreground his disappearance and prior losses while giving relatively cursory space to his stated policy goals, tilting the narrative toward skepticism.