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Gov. Sanford Admits Having Affair

By JIM DAVENPORT
,
AP
posted: 10 MINUTES AGO
comments: 1567
Text SizeAAA
COLUMBIA, S.C. (June 24) - Gov. Mark Sanford admitted Wednesday he's been having an affair with a woman he visited on a secret trip to Argentina and said he'll resign as head of the Republican Governors Association.
Sanford, a rumored 2012 presidential candidate, refused to say whether he'll leave office.
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"I've let down a lot of people, that's the bottom line," Sanford said at a news conference. He said he's known the woman about eight years, but their relationship turned into something more a year ago while he was on an economic development trip to Argentina.
Sanford, a 49-year-old father of four, choked up during remarks to reporters. He said his wife has known about the affair for the last five months.
Sanford revealed Wednesday morning that he'd gone to Argentina for a seven-day trip. For two days after reporters starting asking questions, his office had said he had gone hiking on the Appalachian Trail.
Meanwhile, first lady Jenny Sanford had told The Associated Press she did not know where her husband went for the Father's Day weekend.
First elected governor in 2002, the former real estate developer has more than year remaining in his second term and is barred by state law from running again.
A former three-term congressman, Sanford most recently snared headlines for his unsuccessful fight to turn aside federal stimulus cash for his state's schools. His vocal battle against the Obama administration — and libertarian, small-government leanings — won praise from conservative pundits. Ultimately, a state court order required him to take the money.
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Sanford's announcement came a day after another prominent Republican, Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, apologized to his GOP Senate colleagues after revealing last week that he had an affair with a campaign staffer and was resigning from the GOP leadership.
Sanford was born May 28, 1960, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the eldest of four siblings. He earned a bachelor's degree in business from Furman University in 1983 and a master's of business administration from the University of Virginia in 1988.
After working for a couple of years in the financial world in New York, he returned to South Carolina and said he was shaped by his summers working on the family plantation. He served in the U.S. House for three terms before honoring a term limits pledge and leaving office in 2001.
In 2002, he defeated incumbent Democrat Jim Hodges by 4 percentage points to become governor and won re-election in 2006, beating Democratic state Sen. Tommy Moore.
As governor, Sanford has had seemingly endless run-ins with the GOP-dominated Legislature, once bringing pigs to the House chamber to protest pork barrel spending. He also put a "spending clock" outside his office to show how quickly a proposed budget would spend state money.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2009-06-24 14:47:05
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Kidcat24

05:10 PMJun 24 2009

Good Democrats start playing dirty just like the Republicans have for years.

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Rclewis1

05:10 PMJun 24 2009

WELL SHIT, POLITICIANS! CAN'T ANYONE KEEP THEIR DAMN PANTS ZIPPED UP ANYMORE???ALL PARTIES, ALL SEXES, INCLUDING ALTERNATIVE LIFESTYLE SEXES.POLITICIANS AND SCHOOLTEACHERS...DO YOU HAVE NO RESPECT FOR YOURSELF, YOUR NATION, YOUR FAMILY, AND FOR ANYONE ELSE OTHER THAN JUST DOING WHAT THE HELL FEELS GOOD AND MAKES YOU PRETEND YOU ARE SOMEONE OTHER THAN WHO YOU ARE.YOUR TEARS, APPOLOGIES, YOUR RESIGNATIONS, YOUR LIES, YOUR BEGGING FOR FORGIVENESS, YOUR DENYING THE DEED, YOUR OUT OF WEDLOCK ACCIDENTAL PREGNANCIES, YOUR INTERNET PORN, YOUR THEFT OF MONEY AND EXPENSES TO FEED YOUR INSECURITIES.DO YOU THINK THIS IS WHAT YOU ARE PAID TO DO AS AN ADULT WHO TOOK OTHER PEOPLES MONEY TO PUT YOU INTO POSITIONS OF POWER AND RESPECT?ENOUGH. EVERYONE GO HOME. RESIGN, DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS ALIKE. AND POSTERS ON FORUMS STOP PRETENDING THAT THE OTHER BUNCH DID IT FIRST, WORST, MORE OFTEN, AND WITH GREATER NEGATIVE RESULTS.FOR ME, THE ENTIRE CONGRESS, ADMINISTRATIONS, SCH...

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Bigmac0812

05:10 PMJun 24 2009

Lol, another Republicant committing an affair or is gay. So much for the party of family values. Amazing how the almost extinct Republicant party is always judging others but has more skeletions in their closet than a mortuary.

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Mike25558

05:10 PMJun 24 2009

OBAMA NEEDS TO GIVE N.KOREA 500 MILLION LIKE BUSH DID WITH SOME FOOD AND GIFTS. THEN THEY WILL STOP FOR ABOUT 8 MONTHS LIKE THEY DID WITH BUSH. ISRAEL WILL DEAL WITH IRAN

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Sean62965

05:10 PMJun 24 2009

Whats fails to enter that bear trap of a brain of yours is that Clinton, nor any of the Dems caught in affairs claim the moral high ground. They don't wag their finger at anyone. It was the GOP that made this an issue and the same morons who cling to their bible and join promise keepers and tout themselves as the next thing to Jesus. Then Oops, I got caught being a scumbag hypocrite. Do you see the difference, or are you just some moronic appolgist for the losers?No one cared until the GOP put them under a microscope for THEIR own exploitation.-------------------------------------COONIES BLKPDR 05:03 PMJun 24 2009 It's not just a Republican thing (cheating , that is) what about the beloved Bill Clinton..how soon we forget all of his lying & cheating ways..Infidelity is not bound by political parties!! The wives are the ones who suffer the embarrassment of their private lives becoming headlines. Now we have someone to read about instead of Jon & Kate & the 8

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JSH 151

05:09 PMJun 24 2009

I LOVE watching the Republican party unravel !!!! From the crooked Palm Beach County, Florida Commisioners who have recently been in, or ARE in Prison, to these 2 Republican Leader Misfits. They all pay a great tribute to their former Leader, G.W. Bush. If Sanford can't uphold the duties of his Office, that he was sworn to, then he should resign... disappearing for a week just doesn't cut it.

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IBELINDA2

05:09 PMJun 24 2009

THE REPUKIES COME IN HERE DAY AFTER DAY MAKING UP STORIES. WE DON'T HAVE TO MAKE UP $#IT ON YOU FOLKS, YOU DO IT TO YOURSELVES!!!!!! HOOHOO!!

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SE72748

05:09 PMJun 24 2009

Ok Ok .He ran off on fathers day to have a hike on the appalacian trail.We didn't call it hiking on the appalacian trail.We called it something a bit more sensual and descriptive, but what I want to know is;does he get to keep his fathers day gifts.

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wantedmytrulove

05:09 PMJun 24 2009

The guys just a LIAR but we knew that along time ago, now watch he'll fine Jesus

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Merindean

05:09 PMJun 24 2009

I didn't notice the ring thing at first, but now that you mention it. I wonder why she hasn't hotfooted it to a divorce lawyer. What kind of thing is that to do to your kids to run to your mistress on Father's Day. Timing is incredible.

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