Mark Sanford drops congressional bid to launch national debt nonprofit
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Former Republican South Carolina governor and congressman Mark Sanford is abandoning his last bid to retake his old seat, just a month after announcing his candidacy.
Instead, he will start a nonprofit dedicated to resolving the national debt.
Sanford, 65, told The Associated Press on Thursday that he is ending his campaign to focus on fighting the debt and deficit.
“After much thought, I have concluded that the most effective way I can contribute right now is not to seek office, but to help build a broader movement focused on the nation’s financial future,” he said in a news release. “The trajectory of debt and deficits is not a Republican or Democrat problem; it’s an American problem. And it’s a problem that requires sustained grassroots pressure to make change happen.”
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Former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford is shown in a 2019 photo. He was accused of an alleged romantic affair by the ex-fiancée of a political reporter. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
The organization will operate as a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) and focus on building a nationwide grassroots network aimed at changing the nation’s current fiscal trajectory. Sanford noted that with his first grandchild on the way, he also realized he wanted to spend more time with his family.
The decision comes a month after Sanford entered the primary on deadline day to retake his former House seat.
Sanford previously served three terms in Congress before serving as Governor of South Carolina. But his tenure was overshadowed by a scandal in 2009 when he disappeared to Argentina to visit a mistress; Neither his staff nor his wife knew his whereabouts at the time.
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Gov. Mark Sanford, Tenn., on Oct. 26, 2019. He speaks onstage during the 2019 Politicon at Music City Center in Nashville. On Thursday, Sanford announced the end of his congressional campaign to launch a nonprofit to address the national debt. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
While Sanford evaded impeachment attempts and resisted calls to resign, his wife, Jenny Sanford, moved out of the governor’s mansion, moved into the family’s beach house with their four sons, and later filed for divorce.
Sanford eventually won back his old seat by defeating 15 other candidates in the 2013 special election. He served two terms before losing the 2018 primary to a GOP rival backed by then-President Donald Trump.
His former seat is currently held by Republican Rep. Nancy Mace.
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As of Tuesday, the national debt stands at more than $38.9 trillion, according to the Treasury Department. This includes more than $31.2 trillion in publicly held debt and more than $7.6 trillion in intragovernmental assets.
“Our country’s collapsing fiscal trajectory is what motivated me to enter this race, and it’s what energized my time in politics,” Sanford said. “I want to make a difference here, and when I started getting back into the world of politics, I really started to realize that all the big changes in Washington happen as a result of outside pressures.”
