Divorced Governor Doing Well
South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford seems to have rebounded well from his famous divorce.
Governor Sanford made headlines in June 2009 when he disappeared for six days in Argentina with his mistress. Now, Mr. Sanford is on the verge of ending his time as governor with some of the highest approval ratings in the country for governors.
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal describes Mr. Sanford as “divorced, enjoying high approval ratings and ready to embark on a private life when his second term ends in four months.”
Mr. Sanford’s private life will likely involve Maria Belen Chapur, the Argentinean woman with whom he had his scandalous affair, to at least some degree. Mr. Sanford has admitted to seeing Chapur for a long weekend in May, and according to a close friend, the two also saw each other in New York.
When asked if he ever intended to run for office again, Mr. Sanford responded with “Never say never,” leaving the door open to speculations.
The governor’s current status is a long way away from where he was when he finally returned from his unannounced absence. After Mr. Sanford disappeared, under the guise of a fishing trip, for six days, without contact with his family or security personnel, people were a little peeved.
When he returned, he was pressured by many lawmakers in his state to resign. But Mr. Sanford decided not to. This caused the state to censure him for bringing the state, “ridicule, dishonor, disgrace, and shame.”
It was less than a year after his return that he and his then wife, Jenny, went through a high-profile divorce which wrapped up in March of 2010.
Now, Mr. Sanford says he has had more time to focus on his work as governor. According to the article, “[w]hile no one was watching, or perhaps because of it, [Mr. Sanford] got more accomplished in his last legislative term than in any other of his eight years as governor.”
Mr. Sanford’s current plans for his post-political life? To move back to the scenic town of Charleston, where his ex-wife is living with their three children. His oldest son is currently a freshman at the University of Virginia.
Mr. Sanford is a former real-estate broker, and says that he is planning to do work in the private sector. He has not elaborated on what that specifically means however.
The governor says that he is ready to leave the office, but he isn’t too happy about leaving it in the middle of budget crisis. But that is the position that most states are in, and there is no telling just how long Mr. Sanford would have to remain governor if he wanted to see the state all the way through the recession.
