Mark Sanford quits House race after one month, says fighting national debt is better done outside politics

Mark Sanford, the former Republican South Carolina governor and congressman, is abandoning his latest run to reclaim his former seat just a month after announcing his candidacy.

Instead, he will launch a nonprofit dedicated to addressing the national debt.

Sanford, 65, told The Associated Press on Thursday that he is shuttering his campaign to focus on combating the debt and deficit.

“After a lot of thought, I’ve concluded that the most effective way I can contribute right now is not by seeking office, but by helping build a broader movement focused on the country’s financial future,” he said in a news release. “The trajectory of debt and deficits isn’t a Republican problem or a Democrat problem—it’s an American problem. And it’s one that demands sustained grassroots pressure for change to occur.”

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The organization will operate as a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) and will focus on building a nationwide grassroots network aimed at shifting the country’s current financial course. Sanford noted that with his first grandchild on the way, he also realized he wanted to spend more time with his family.

The decision came one month after Sanford entered the primary on the final filing day to reclaim his former House seat.

Sanford previously served three terms in Congress before serving as Governor of South Carolina. However, his tenure was overshadowed by a 2009 scandal in which he disappeared to Argentina to visit a mistress; at the time, neither his staff nor his wife knew his whereabouts.

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While Sanford survived impeachment attempts and resisted calls to resign, his wife, Jenny Sanford, moved out of the governor’s mansion, relocated to the family’s beachfront home with their four sons, and later sued for divorce.

Sanford eventually won back his old seat in a 2013 special election, defeating 15 other candidates. He served two full terms before losing his 2018 primary to a GOP challenger backed by then-President Donald Trump.

His former seat is currently held by Republican Rep. Nancy Mace.

As of Tuesday, the national debt stands at more than $38.9 trillion, according to the Treasury Department. That includes more than $31.2 trillion in debt held by the public and over $7.6 trillion in intragovernmental holdings.

“Our nation’s crumbling financial course is what led me to enter this race, and it’s what’s animated my time in politics,” Sanford said. “I want to make a difference here, and as I began to get back into the world of politics, it really began to hit me how all of Washington’s major changes have come as a result of outside pressure.”