[6] Before his senior year of high school, Sanford moved with his family from Fort Lauderdale to the 3,000-acre (1,200 ha) Coosaw Plantation near Beaufort, South Carolina.

The seat had come open after four-term Republican incumbent Arthur Ravenel declined to seek re-election in his ultimately unsuccessful run for governor.

Despite having never run for office before, Sanford finished second in a crowded primary behind Van Hipp Jr., a former George H. W. Bush administration official and former chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party.

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.

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.

Sanford has criticized these schools as focusing too much on separately creating research institutions and not on educating the young adults of South Carolina.

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.

"[30] The Base Load Review act which ultimately led to the Nukegate scandal, the largest business failure in South Carolina's[clarification needed], was also passed without Sanford's signature.

The mystery surrounding Sanford's whereabouts garnered nationwide news coverage; his absence was first reported by Jim Davenport of the Associated Press.

[40][41] 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.

[43] 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.

[50] Sanford told reporters that months before his affair became public, he had sought counsel at a controversial religious organization called The Family, of which he became a member when he was a representative in Washington, D.C. from 1995 to 2001.

[53] 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.

[55] 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.

[57] 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."

"[65] After a Freedom of Information Act request was filed,[66] Sanford eventually chose to reimburse taxpayers for expenses he had incurred one year earlier with his mistress in Argentina.

[90] According to the complaint, Jenny Sanford had caught her former husband sneaking out of her home in Sullivan's Island, without her knowledge of his presence, using his cellphone as a flashlight.

[90] Sanford was endorsed by FreedomWorks,[92] South Carolina governor Nikki Haley,[93] U.S. representative and House speaker John Boehner,[94] state senator Tom Davis,[95][96][97] former South Carolina state treasurer Thomas Ravenel,[98] perennial candidate Ben Frasier,[99][100] former U.S. representative from Texas Ron Paul,[101][102] and U.S. senator from Kentucky Rand Paul.

Pornographer Larry Flynt also endorsed him, saying "His open embrace of his mistress in the name of love, breaking his sacred marriage vows, was an act of bravery that has drawn my support.

[111] In 2016, Sanford was renominated by the Republican Party for another Congressional term, defeating his sole primary opponent, state representative Jenny Horne, with 55.61% of the vote, and in the November general election was re-elected by a margin of 58.56% to a total of 36.83% for his major opponent, Dimitri Cherry, who was nominated on the lines of the Democratic, Working Families and Green Parties, as South Carolina is one of the states practicing electoral fusion.

)[112] Sanford was criticized by President Donald Trump via Twitter for being "very unhelpful," and "nothing but trouble" hours before polls closed on the day of the June 12th Republican primary.

[114] After his loss, The New York Times wrote, "Mark Sanford of South Carolina found out the hard way, in his surprise primary defeat" that "having a conservative voting record is less important than demonstrating total loyalty to Mr.

[123] According to NPR, "Sanford hasn't been shy at voicing his disgust with Trump and his distaste for the president's brash style of politics and frequent bending of the truth.

[122] Sanford criticized President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to temporarily curtail Muslim immigration until better screening methods were devised.

After Super Tuesday in 2008, Sanford received some mention as a potential running mate for the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, John McCain.

Likening the presidential race to a football game at halftime, Sanford noted that he "sat out the first half, not endorsing a candidate...But I'm now stepping onto the field and going to work to help John McCain.

Sanford attracted derision in the liberal blogosphere and among pundits and analysts on the left for a gaffe during an interview with CNN's Blitzer on July 13, 2008, when he had difficulty answering a question about differences between Senator McCain and incumbent President George W. Bush on economic policy.

[145] Further boosting Sanford's profile in advance of a potential candidacy, he was elected as Chairman of the Republican Governors Association in November 2008[146] and was cited by Michael S. Steele, the chairman of the Republican Party as one of four "rising stars" in the GOP (alongside governors Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Sarah Palin of Alaska) in February 2009.

[150] On January 4, 2010, Sanford stated, "If there's anything that's abundantly clear, it's that I ain't running for president," and indicated that he would enter the private sector after his last 11 months as governor.