Former governor and past presidential candidate Mark Sanford jumped into the crowded race for former South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham’s seat on July 23, saying it was time to get national spending under control.
The once high-profile critic of President Donald Trump was known as a hardline fiscal conservative and budget hawk as a former congressman.
“America is borrowing from the future faster than we’re building it,” Sanford said in a video announcing his campaign posted on social media. “We’ll add about a trillion dollars to the national debt over the next 100 days. And, if left unaddressed, that debt will crush our economy. It will wipe out our savings, and it could even destroy our republic.”
He did not immediately return a request for comment.
Sanford, 66, said Graham’s recent death was a reminder of how short and precious life was. As a father and a grandfather, he was worried for future children, he said.
“We’re at a tipping point, and it’s why I decided to run for the U.S. Senate,” Sanford said.
Sanford first served as a Republican representing the state in the U.S. House of Representatives starting in 1994. He left office after a self-imposed three-term pledge, ending in 2001.
He was then elected to serve as governor of the state for two terms from 2003 to 2011. He was the first governor to refuse the Obama administration’s $700 million stimulus package. The CATO Institute gave him an A grade in fiscal responsibility in 2010, and he was only one of four governors to achieve the rating.
During his time as governor, Sanford created a media stir in 2009 when he disappeared for nearly a week and afterward held a press conference admitting to an affair with a woman from Argentina. He and his wife divorced in 2010.
Sanford reclaimed his seat in Congress, serving from 2013 to 2019. He left after losing his 2018 primary election to state lawmaker Katie Arrington, who was endorsed on the morning of the primary by Trump. Arrington lost in the general election to Democrat Joe Cunningham.
He ran for president in the Republican primary in 2019 but dropped out after a few months.
Sanford is one of five Republican candidates who have filed for the special GOP Senate primary. The other candidates are U.S. Rep. Russell Fry, Sen. Darline Graham, businessman Mark Lynch, and U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman.
Sen. Lindsey Graham died on July 11 at age 71. He had held the seat since 2003.
The senator’s death triggered a special GOP primary to select a replacement nominee. The primary election will be held on Aug. 11.
