Former Rep. and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford announced Thursday that he is suspending his campaign to regain his low-country district just 30 days after launching.
Sanford, 65, became known as a staunch critic of President Donald Trump during his first administration, often targeting the president for federal spending.
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Instead of seeking to take back South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, Sanford said he plans to start a nonprofit group focused on combating national debt.
“What I hope to do is to indeed build a grassroots organization — start small, but I have a fair size circle of friends and folks with whom I have some degree of influence and contacts,” he told the Associated Press.
The Palmetto State Republican filed to run for office on the last day of candidate filing, joining a wide field of candidates from both parties vying to succeed Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who is running for governor.
While other candidates spent months laying the groundwork for their congressional runs, Sanford was marching into familiar territory. In his first run for Congress in 1994, he entered a similarly crowded primary field and finished second before securing a win in the runoff.
Sanford served for six years before following a similar path to the governor’s office, where he served two terms.
However, his tenure was stained by the Appalachian Trail, which is where he claimed to be hiking in 2009, when in reality he was visiting his mistress in Argentina. Calls for his impeachment erupted, but Sanford was able to fend off the move by resigning on his own terms.
Sanford returned to Congress in 2013 after winning his seat back in a special election and went on to win two more full terms before losing in the 2018 GOP primary.
His 2018 loss was largely due to the ire of Trump, who backed Sanford’s challenger after he claimed the congressman was “very unhelpful.” Sanford later made a long-shot bid in 2020 against Trump in the presidential primary but eventually dropped out of the race.
Sanford said he plans to use the $1.3 million left in his federal account toward his planned nonprofit organization, which will be focused in South Carolina.
But he didn’t guarantee he’s done with public offices forever.
“Look, if there’s ever a guy who would say, ‘Never say never,’ it’s me,” Sanford said. “But I think, realistically, yeah, and it’s recognition of that being the case.”
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The GOP primary in South Carolina is June 9, and both parties have a field of candidates vying for a spot on the general election ballot.
The coastal district is rated solid Republican by Cook Political Report, and Rep. Mark Smith, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Alex Pelbath, and physician Sam McCown are leading in the GOP field.
