2002 election In 2002, just before announcing he would run for governor, Sanford joined the Air Force Reserve. He entered the gubernatorial election of 2002; he first defeated Lt. Gov.
Bob Peeler in the Republican primary and then defeated the Democratic incumbent,
Jim Hodges, in the general election, by a margin of 53% to 47% to become the
115th governor of South Carolina. In accordance with South Carolina law, Sanford was elected separately from the state's Republican lieutenant governor,
Andre Bauer. Sanford and Bauer's wins gave the Republicans full control of state government for the first time since
Reconstruction.
First term (2003-2007) In 2003, after becoming governor, Sanford attended two weeks of training with the
Air Force Reserve in
Alabama with his unit, the 315th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron. While in training in 2003, Sanford did not transfer power to Bauer, saying he would be in regular contact with his office, and would transfer authority in writing only if he were called to active duty. Sanford sometimes had a contentious relationship with the
South Carolina General Assembly, even though it was dominated by his party for his entire tenure. During his administration, governmental power was largely held by three members of the General Assembly: Senators
Hugh Leatherman and
Glenn F. McConnell and House Speaker
Bobby Harrell. The Republican-led
state House of Representatives overrode 105 of Sanford's 106 budget vetoes on May 26, 2004. The following day, Sanford brought live pigs, who subsequently defecated on the House floor, into the House chamber as a visual protest against "
pork projects." Sanford rejected the Assembly's entire budget on June 13, 2006. Had this veto stood, the state government would have shut down on July 1. He 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. However, in a special session the following day, both houses dismissed Sanford's call for reform by overriding his veto–effectively restoring their original budget. In 2003, Sanford sought to reform the state's public college system. Sanford has criticized these schools as focusing too much on separately creating research institutions and not on educating the young adults of South Carolina. Sanford also suggested that they combine some programs as a means of curbing tuition increases. The schools did not respond positively to this suggestion, however, causing Sanford to remark that "if any institution ultimately feels uncomfortable with our push toward coordination, they can exit the system and go private." Sanford's first term included other controversies. A
Time magazine article in November 2005, critical of Sanford, said that some "fear his thrift has brought the state's economy to a standstill." According to
Survey USA, Sanford's approval ratings ranged from 47% to 55% during 2006.
2006 election His campaign for re-election in 2006 began by Sanford winning the June 13 Republican Primary over Oscar Lovelace, a family physician from
Prosperity, with 65% of the vote to Lovelace's 35%. His Democratic competitor in the November elections was
state senator Tommy Moore, whom Sanford beat 55% to 45%. Ultimately, Sanford left his first House stint with a 55% approval rating. On Election Day, Sanford was not allowed to vote in his home precinct because he did not have his voter registration card. He was obliged to go to a voter registration office to get a new registration card. "I hope everybody else out there is as determined to vote as I was today", he said. Sanford's driver's license had a
Columbia address, but Sanford was trying to vote at his home precinct in Sullivan's Island. According to
WAGT in
Augusta, Georgia (whose service area includes part of South Carolina) Sanford declared that it would be his last campaign.
Second term (2007-2011) 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. After the law to passed without his signature, he wrote: "It is my personal view that the largest proclamation of one's faith ought to be in how one lives his life." The Base Load Review act which ultimately led to the
Nukegate scandal, the largest business failure in South Carolina's, was also passed without Sanford's signature. After the passage of the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (known as the stimulus), which Sanford strongly opposed and publicly criticized before and after its passage by
Congress and presidential signing, Sanford initially indicated he might not accept all of the funds allotted by the spending law to South Carolina. He was criticized by many
Democrats and some moderate Republicans, both in his state and outside it, who noted South Carolina's 9.5% unemployment rate (one of the highest in the country) and complained that Sanford was not doing enough to improve economic conditions in his state, which could be alleviated by the stimulus money.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Republican
governor of California, suggested that if Sanford or other governors rejected their portion of stimulus funds, he would be happy to take them instead. 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. Sanford compromised to accept the federal money on condition that the state legislature provide matching funds to pay down the South Carolina state debt. Sanford persuaded state legislator
Nikki Haley to run as his successor, and campaigned on her behalf.
2009 disappearance and extramarital affair From June 18 until June 24, 2009, the whereabouts of Sanford were unknown to the public, his wife, and the State Law Enforcement Division (which provides security for all South Carolina governors). The mystery surrounding Sanford's whereabouts garnered nationwide news coverage; his absence was first reported by
Jim Davenport of the
Associated Press.
Lieutenant Governor André Bauer announced that he could not "take lightly" that Sanford's staff had not communicated with him "for more than four days, and that no one, including his own family, knows his whereabouts." Before his disappearance, Sanford told his staff that he would be hiking on the
Appalachian Trail. While he was gone, he did not answer 15 cell phone calls from his chief of staff; he also failed to call his family on Father's Day. Reporter Gina Smith of
The State (the daily newspaper of Columbia, South Carolina) intercepted Sanford when he arrived at
Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport on a flight from Argentina. Several hours later, after learning that evidence of his true whereabouts was being swiftly discovered by the media, Sanford held a news conference during which he admitted to
adultery. In emotional interviews with the
Associated Press over two days, Sanford said he would die "knowing that I had met my soul mate." Sanford also said that he "crossed the lines" with a handful of other women during 20 years of marriage, but not as far as he did with his mistress. "There were a handful of instances wherein I crossed the lines I shouldn't have crossed as a married man, but never crossed the ultimate line", he said. Earlier,
The State published details of e-mails between Sanford and a woman only identified as "Maria". Sanford met Chapur at a dance in
Uruguay in 2001 and admitted that a more intimate relationship with her had begun in 2008. 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. According to Survey USA, Sanford's approval ratings in South Carolina after his admission of infidelity (6–24–09) showed that "60% think the governor should resign. 34% feel he should remain in office."
Impeachment proceedings On August 25, state representatives
Nathan Ballentine and
Gary Simrill met with Sanford and warned him that the state legislature would
impeach him if he did not resign. Ballentine, an ally of Sanford's, said afterward, "I told him the writing is on the wall. ...he could put an end to it all, but if he doesn't, members of the House will take things into their hands." Sanford still declined to resign. On August 28,
The Washington Times reported that Republican lawmakers in South Carolina were "laying plans" for a special legislative session on whether to impeach Sanford. Two
bills of impeachment were being prepared, with bipartisan support in the state legislature. On October 23, 2009, two impeachment resolutions were introduced, but were blocked by Democrats in the South Carolina legislature. A month later, the resolution was successfully introduced and it was announced that an
ad hoc committee would begin drafting articles of impeachment starting on November 24. Meanwhile, the Ethics Commission formally charged Sanford with 37 violations. On December 3, during its third public hearing on the matter, the
ad hoc committee unanimously voted to remove the vast majority of charges from the investigation, stating that they did not warrant "overturning an election." On December 9, the committee voted 6–1 against impeachment, stating that the legislature had better things to do.
Censure On December 15, 2009, the South Carolina House Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to censure Sanford. The full
South Carolina House of Representatives passed the resolution by a vote of 102–11 in January 2010.
Other fallout from scandal Sanford resigned as Chairman of the
Republican Governors Association following the disclosure of his affair. He was swiftly succeeded by
Mississippi governor
Haley Barbour. In a June 29 email to members of his
political action committee, Sanford said he had no intention of resigning as governor. After his affair was revealed in June 2009, Sanford said: "There's been a lot of speculation and innuendo on whether or not public money were used to advance my admitted unfaithfulness. To be very clear: no public money was ever used in connection with this." After a
Freedom of Information Act request was filed, Sanford eventually chose to reimburse taxpayers for expenses he had incurred one year earlier with his mistress in Argentina. He said, "I made a mistake while I was there in meeting with the woman who I was unfaithful to my wife with. That has raised some very legitimate concerns and questions, and as such, I am going to reimburse the state for the full cost of the Argentina leg of this trip." On August 9, 2009, the AP reported that Sanford may have violated state law by other inappropriate use of state planes, including using a state plane to get a haircut. After telling
Vogue magazine that her husband was having a "midlife crisis," Sanford's wife,
Jenny Sanford, moved out of the
South Carolina Governor’s Mansion with the couple's four sons, returning to the family home on
Sullivan’s Island. On December 11, 2009, she announced that she was filing for divorce, calling it a "sad and painful process." The divorce was finalized in March 2010. A stipulation within the divorce papers required that while on the Sanford family's Coosaw plantation, "no airplanes will be flown at children." The papers also noted that Sanford liked to "unwind" by digging holes on the property with his hydraulic excavator. In August 2012, Sanford became engaged to Chapur. The engagement was subsequently broken off in September 2014. In September 2014, Mark and Jenny Sanford agreed on
mediation over an argument arising from their divorce. Jenny Sanford unsuccessfully petitioned the judge to require that Sanford undergo a psychiatric exam and take parenting and
anger management classes. Judge Daniel Martin Jr. ordered the parties to take the issues to mediation within 30 days.
Veto record During his 2003–2011 gubernatorial term, Sanford vetoed 278 bills, 213 (77%) of which were overridden by the legislature. ==Hiatus from politics (2011–2012)==