* Republican Sanford does not owe national party after win
* Democrats say result undermines Republican pitch to women
By John Whitesides
WASHINGTON, May 8 (Reuters) – Fresh off a redemptive win in
South Carolina’s special election, former Governor Mark
Sanford’s return to Congress will make him a prominent wild card
in an already fractious Republican caucus.
Sanford, whose political career was short-circuited in 2009
by an extramarital affair that marred his last 18 months as
governor, earned a political rebirth along with a seat in the
U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday by defeating Democrat
Elizabeth Colbert Busch.
Sanford will arrive in Washington owing little to the
Republican Party’s leadership, which withheld its support as he
battled Colbert Busch in their heavily Republican district. Once
he returns to the House seat he held from 1995 to 2001, his
independence and staunch fiscal conservatism could give him
clout as Congress enters another round of divisive battles over
the federal budget.
“There is obviously the potential for Sanford to be a real
thorn in (the House Republican) leadership’s side,” Republican
strategist Ford O’Connell said. “He’s a free agent; he can do
whatever he wants.”
The House Republican campaign committee did not give any
financial support to his bid for a political comeback, but
Sanford said on Wednesday he was willing to work with party
leaders.
“I would say yesterday is yesterday and today is today, and
I look forward to working with them,” Sanford said on CBS’s
“This Morning” show.
Sanford’s victory completed his comeback from a scandal that
began when he disappeared for five days in June 2009 to secretly
visit his mistress in Argentina. He had told his staff that he
would be hiking along the Appalachian Trail.
In launching his comeback, Sanford – now divorced from Jenny
Sanford and engaged to Maria Belen Chapur, the Argentinian woman
with whom he had the affair – survived a 16-way Republican
primary and a runoff in April. He then topped Colbert Busch in
the race to succeed Republican Tim Scott, who was appointed to
fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated when Jim DeMint retired.
The House Republican campaign committee dropped its
financial support of Sanford last month after reports that his
ex-wife had accused him of trespassing on her property, in
violation of their divorce agreement. Sanford said he was in the
house to watch the Super Bowl with his youngest son.
Sanford will appear in court in South Carolina on Thursday
to answer the trespassing complaint before he heads to
Washington to resume his career in Congress.
‘PROVEN RECORD’
Sanford attributed his win to his record of fiscal
conservatism. He said on Wednesday he will have “plenty of
friends” in Washington and would work hard with members of both
parties to cut the budget.
“At the end of the day, I think people care about how
politics impacts their lives,” he said on NBC’s “Today” show.
“I’ve got a rather proven record in trying to do something on
that front, particularly as it relates to financial issues.”
House Speaker John Boehner and other Republican leaders have
had difficulty keeping conservative members in line during the
budget debates. Sanford pushed hard to cut spending during his
first stint in Congress, before the Tea Party movement made it a
top priority for Republicans, and he can be expected to make his
voice heard during the upcoming budget battles.
“He’s been a little bit of a rebel. He’s been more
conservative than about 90 percent of Republicans based on his
past voting record,” said Gibbs Knotts, political science
chairman at College of Charleston.
He also is likely to be around a while. The heavy Republican
tilt of the coastal district, which Mitt Romney won by 18
percentage points last year in the presidential election, makes
it unlikely that Democrats will be able to mount a viable
challenge to Sanford anytime soon.
Both parties tried to make the best of Sanford’s win,
however. Republicans portrayed it as a sign of voter
dissatisfaction with the agenda of national Democrats and
President Barack Obama. Democrats said his election would
undermine Republican efforts to appeal to women voters.
But analysts warned that, despite all the national attention
to the race, the result probably revealed little about the
broader mood of voters in the off-year between the 2012
presidential election and the 2014 congressional elections.
Sanford was able to link Colbert Busch to Washington
liberals like House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, appearing at
one point in a mock debate with a cardboard cutout of the
liberal Pelosi.
“It was a triumph of demographics and ideology for Sanford.
He took positions that were more in line with the district’s
Republican voters,” Knotts said.
The Democratic House campaign committee and
Democratic-leaning outside groups poured nearly $1 million into
the race against Sanford. Despite the loss, they said Sanford’s
election made a mockery of Republican efforts to appeal to
women.
“House Republicans’ outreach to women voters now has Mark
Sanford as the face,” said Representative Steve Israel of New
York, Democratic House campaign committee chairman. “Republicans
now have to defend him and stand with him until election day.”
Although they failed to support his campaign, national
Republicans claimed it was a warning sign for Democrats looking
toward the 2014 elections.
“At the end of the day, running on the Obama-Pelosi ticket
was just too toxic for Elizabeth Colbert Busch,” said
Representative Greg Walden of Oregon, Republican House campaign
committee chairman.
(Additional reporting by Harriet McLeod in South Carolina,
Vicki Allen in Washington; Editing by David Lindsey and Cynthia
Osterman)
