Mark Sanford Launches Comeback Bid for Congress

Mark Sanford is suiting up for another run for Congress in South Carolina, aiming to reclaim the Charleston-area House seat he lost in 2018, reports Politico. The former governor and congressman filed on Monday, the last possible day, jumping into a crowded field opened by Rep. Nancy Mace's decision to run for governor. "People have been telling me it's time to get off the bleachers," the 64-year-old Republican tells the Post and Courier, arguing that voters are now more attuned to the fiscal warnings he's sounded for years.

Sanford has been off the ballot since his quixotic 2020 GOP presidential bid, which he ran largely to spotlight the nation's balance sheet. He reenters politics with about $1.3 million left from earlier campaigns, but also with well-known liabilities. He lost his House seat after President Trump (in his first term) backed Sanford's primary opponent, and the two tangled repeatedly over Trump's conduct. Sanford also remains linked to one of South Carolina's most infamous scandals: his 2009 disappearance to see his mistress in Argentina, initially explained to the public as "hiking the Appalachian Trail."