Former U.S. Rep. and Gov. Mark Sanford filed paperwork on March 30 to seek the Republican nomination for South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, a seat expected to be open because Rep. Nancy Mace is running for governor.
Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford filed paperwork Monday to run in the June 9 Republican primary for South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, re-entering a crowded race for a seat he has held twice.
Sanford’s candidacy filing was submitted to state officials shortly before the close of South Carolina’s candidate filing period, according to reporting from The Associated Press. POLITICO also reported Sanford’s filing, citing state election paperwork.
Sanford told The Post and Courier that “people have been telling me it’s time to get off the bleachers.” He has pointed to the national debt as a central issue in his political career and signaled it will be a focus of his campaign.
The 1st District covers much of South Carolina’s coast, including the Charleston area and communities in the Lowcountry.
The seat is expected to be open in 2026 because Rep. Nancy Mace, who has represented the district since 2021, launched a Republican campaign for governor last year.
Sanford served as governor from 2003 to 2011. He represented the 1st District in Congress from 1995 to 2001 and again from 2013 to 2019.
His political career was shaken in 2009 after he disappeared from the state and later acknowledged an extramarital affair, following earlier claims that he had been hiking the Appalachian Trail.
In 2018, Sanford lost the Republican primary for his House seat to Katie Arrington, who had support from President Donald Trump. Sanford later mounted a longshot bid for the 2020 Republican presidential nomination challenging Trump, but ended his campaign in November 2019.
The Republican primary for the district has drawn a large field. Among those who have been reported as running are state Rep. Mark Smith, Charleston County Council member Jenny Costa Honeycutt, and retired Air Force Col. Alex Pelbath, who has been described in previous reporting as having served as the air mission commander for the final U.S. evacuation flight out of Kabul in 2021.
Sanford’s entry sets up a test of his standing in a Republican Party that remains strongly shaped by Trump’s influence.
