Political Redemption for Mark Sanford

Seemingly against all odds, former Governor Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) successfully re-claimed his former congressional seat with a stunning 54-45 percent victory over Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch on Tuesday night in South Carolina. The race drew major national attention because of Mr. Sanford's highly publicized extra-marital affair and alleged violation of his divorce agreement, along with the Democratic nominee being the sister of Comedy Central television personality Stephen Colbert. Ms. Colbert Busch's inability to dodge the liberal label, however, proved to be her undoing in this conservative Charleston-anchored 1st Congressional District. It's rare when a nominee winning a seat that overwhelmingly favors his party is considered an upset, but that's exactly what happened last night. Sanford, running as a Tea Party endorsed fiscal hard-liner, successfully made his budget discipline message the focal point of the campaign and not his continuing personal scandals. The Democrats poured a steady stream of money into the race, sensing that they could steal a solidly Republican seat and use the victory as a building block to support their 2014 House majority plan. Last night's defeat is clearly a setback for them. When the final accounting is completed, the tally will likely show that Colbert Busch and the outside organizations supporting her or opposing Sanford spent between $1.7 and $2 million. Mr. Sanford, accompanied by very little outside spending, will come closer to, but will likely fall under, $1 million in total expenditures. For more information, please contact David Ashinoff at (202) 547-5013 or ashinoffd@agc.org.