Sanford Vs. Sanford: The Media’s South Carolina Fantasy
Esquire
Are you ready for the Real Housewives of South Carolina’s First Congressional District?
Both Mark Sanford, the disgraced former governor, and his ex-wife Jenny are considering a run for the vacant House seat opened up when Tim Scott was appointed to succeed Jim DeMint in the Senate.
Please, please let them run against each other. Would voters side with the man who claimed he was hiking the Appalachian Trail, or the scorned woman who watched him confess his affair with his Argentine “soul mate”?
Mark Sanford previously represented the district from 1995 to 2001. He had pledged to only serve three terms in Congress and was elected governor in 2002, making a name for himself as an almost painfully austere fiscal conservative who pointedly rejected federal stimulus money for his state. He was considered a likely candidate for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination until he disappeared in June 2009 for six days. When he admitted the extramarital affair, Jenny Sanford promptly moved out of the Governor’s Mansion and divorce proceedings followed.
Since then, Mark Sanford has followed the typical path that Republicans take when they retire and become a Fox News contributor ,while Jenny Sanford, as the wronged wife, became politically powerful in the state. Her endorsement helped put Nikki Haley, the current governor, over the top in a competitive 2010 primary
If the two tangled for this seat (along with a variety of other possible candidates including Paul Thurmond, son of the late senator Strom Thurmond), it would mark perhaps the most domestically divisive election in American history. It would also be a media bonanza, maybe the most covered House race of all time.
While it’s not unknown for incumbents to face spiteful challenges from ex-spouses, this would likely be the first time that both the ex-husband and the ex-wife would be considered strong and credible candidates. The result would be the sort of tabloid interest rarely seen in a special election for Congress. Although the seat is not totally out of reach for Democrats (the Democratic candidate in 2008 lost narrowly by a margin of 52-48), it’s likely to go to the winner of the Republican primary. And, in a state famous for its dirty campaigns, a Sanford v. Sanford race could be truly sordid–if we’re lucky enough to see it happen.
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