67 Facts About Mark Sanford

Mark Sanford represented South Carolina's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2001.

Mark Sanford decided against running for a fourth term in the house and instead focused on running in the 2002 gubernatorial election.

In June 2009, after having disappeared from the state for nearly a week, Mark Sanford publicly revealed that he had engaged in an extramarital affair.

Mark Sanford had led his staff to believe that he was going hiking on the Appalachian Trail, but actually went to visit his mistress, Maria Belen Chapur, in Argentina.

Mark Sanford ran for Congress again in a 2013 special election for his old seat.

Mark Sanford won the election and served in Congress from 2013 to 2019.

Mark Sanford lost his 2018 reelection bid in a Republican primary.

In September 2019, Mark Sanford announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2020 United States presidential election.

Mark Sanford dropped out of the race on November 12,2019.

Mark Sanford's family was fairly well-to-do, but slept in the same room to conserve electricity.

Mark Sanford attained the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America.

Mark Sanford received a Bachelor of Arts degree in business from Furman University in 1983 and a Master of Business Administration degree from Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia in 1988.

Mark Sanford founded Norton and Mark Sanford Real Estate Investment, a leasing and brokerage company, in 1992.

In 1994, Mark Sanford entered the Republican primary for the Charleston-based 1st Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives.

Mark Sanford was unopposed by Democratic candidates in 1996 and 1998.

Mark Sanford was recognized by Citizens Against Government Waste, as well as the National Tax Payers Union, for his efforts to rein in government spending and reduce the national deficit.

Mark Sanford garnered a lifetime rating of 92 from the American Conservative Union.

Mark Sanford was known for voting against bills that otherwise received unanimous support.

Mark Sanford voted against pork barrel projects even when they benefited his own district; in 1997, he voted against a defense appropriations bill that included funds for Charleston's harbor.

In 2002, just before announcing he would run for governor, Mark Sanford joined the Air Force Reserve.

Mark Sanford entered the gubernatorial election of 2002; he first defeated Lt.

In 2003, after becoming governor, Mark Sanford attended two weeks of training with the Air Force Reserve in Alabama with his unit, the 315th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron.

Mark Sanford sometimes had a contentious relationship with the South Carolina General Assembly, even though it was dominated by his party for his entire tenure.

Mark Sanford rejected the Assembly's entire budget on June 13,2006.

Mark Sanford explained his veto as being the only way to get the cuts he desired, and that using the line-item veto would have been inadequate as well as impossible.

In 2003, Mark Sanford sought to reform the state's public college system.

Mark Sanford has criticized these schools as focusing too much on separately creating research institutions and not on educating the young adults of South Carolina.

Mark Sanford suggested that they combine some programs as a means of curbing tuition increases.

On Election Day, Mark Sanford was not allowed to vote in his home precinct because he did not have his voter registration card.

Mark Sanford was obliged to go to a voter registration office to get a new registration card.

In dissent with the Republican Party of South Carolina, Sanford opposed the faith-based license plates his state offers, marketed largely to the state's conservative evangelical citizens.

On March 11,2009, Sanford became the first United States governor to formally reject a portion of the federal stimulus money earmarked by Congress for the state of South Carolina.

Mark Sanford compromised to accept the federal money on condition that the state legislature provide matching funds to pay down the South Carolina state debt.

Mark Sanford persuaded state legislator Nikki Haley to run as his successor, and campaigned on her behalf.

From June 18 until June 24,2009, the whereabouts of Mark Sanford were unknown to the public, his wife, and the State Law Enforcement Division.

The mystery surrounding Mark Sanford's whereabouts garnered nationwide news coverage; his absence was first reported by Jim Davenport of the Associated Press.

Several hours later, after learning that evidence of his true whereabouts was being swiftly discovered by the media, Mark Sanford held a news conference during which he admitted to adultery.

Mark Sanford met Chapur at a dance in Uruguay in 2001 and admitted that a more intimate relationship with her had begun in 2008.

Mark Sanford's wife had become aware of her husband's infidelities approximately five months before the scandal broke, and the two had sought marriage counseling.

Jenny Mark Sanford said that she had requested a trial separation about two weeks before his disappearance.

Mark Sanford told reporters that months before his affair became public, he had sought counsel at a controversial religious organization called The Family, of which he became a member when he was a representative in Washington, DC from 1995 to 2001.

Mark Sanford resigned as Chairman of the Republican Governors Association following the disclosure of his affair.

Mark Sanford was swiftly succeeded by Mississippi governor Haley Barbour.

Jenny Mark Sanford unsuccessfully petitioned the judge to require that Mark Sanford undergo a psychiatric exam and take parenting and anger management classes.

In October 2011, Mark Sanford was hired as a paid political contributor for Fox News Channel.

In December 2012, CNN reported that Mark Sanford was considering a bid to retake his congressional seat.

On December 22,2012, Mark Sanford sent an email to supporters, confirming rumors that he intended to run for Congress in 2013.

Mark Sanford formally launched his bid for Congress in early 2013.

Mark Sanford quickly became a front-runner in a crowded field of 16 Republican candidates, because of his name recognition.

Mark Sanford claimed to have tried to contact Jenny beforehand but was unable to do so.

Several Republican operatives said that they were upset Mark Sanford had known about this complaint for some time and failed to disclose it.

Mark Sanford was endorsed by FreedomWorks, South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, US representative and House speaker John Boehner, state senator Tom Davis, former South Carolina state treasurer Thomas Ravenel, perennial candidate Ben Frasier, former US representative from Texas Ron Paul, and US senator from Kentucky Rand Paul.

Mark Sanford became the second Republican to lose renomination to the House of Representatives in the 2018 election cycle.

Mark Sanford became a teaching fellow at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics after the 2018 election.

Mark Sanford criticized President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to temporarily curtail Muslim immigration until better screening methods were devised.

On May 4,2017, Mark Sanford voted to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and pass the American Health Care Act.

In 2006, before the midterm elections, some commentators discussed the possibility of Mark Sanford running for president.

Mark Sanford said that he would not run, and claimed that his re-election bid would be his last election, win or lose.

Mark Sanford publicly aligned himself with McCain in a March 15,2008, piece in The Wall Street Journal.

On January 11,2008, shortly before the South Carolina presidential primaries, Mark Sanford published a guest column in the Columbia newspaper The State.

Mark Sanford advised voters in South Carolina to take note of the symbolism of Obama's early success, with the knowledge that South Carolina was a segregated state less than fifty years earlier, and discouraged voting either for or against Obama on the basis of his race.

Mark Sanford received early support for a presidential run from the Republican Liberty Caucus.

On February 22,2009, Mark Sanford declined to rule out a possible presidential bid in 2012, though he professed to have no current plans to run for national office.

On January 4,2010, Mark Sanford stated, "If there's anything that's abundantly clear, it's that I ain't running for president," and indicated that he would enter the private sector after his last 11 months as governor.

On July 16,2019, Mark Sanford confirmed that he was interested in challenging Trump for the presidency in 2020, citing "his alarm over the nation's finances" as a reason for doing so.

Mark Sanford said he would decide on a potential candidacy by September 2,2019, but postponed it at the last minute because of Hurricane Dorian.

On November 12,2019, Mark Sanford announced that he was suspending his campaign.