Mark Sanford Elected Congressman Of South Carolina, Beating Elizabeth Colbert Busch

Republican Mark Sanford was elected Congressman of South Carolina’s First District on Tuesday night beating Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch. In 2009 Sanford resigned as governor of South Carolina when he confessed to having an affair with Mariá Belén Chapur in Argentina. Sanford subsequently divorced his wife, Jenny Sanford, with whom he has four sons. Congressman Sanford is now engaged to Chapur, and his resurgence marks a remarkable comeback for a man with such a well-publicized past.

Sanford beat his opponent, Colbert Busch, by approximately nine percentage points. Busch did not have a great deal of experience and was not convincing during their debate with Sanford, which likely hurt her bid.

"There’s an old saying in politics,” executive director the Citadel Symposium on Southern Politics Scott Buchanan told The New York Times. “You can’t beat somebody with nobody. Her campaign was just not effective. There’s nothing to replace experience. It was very obvious in the debate she was a first-time candidate.”

Colbert Busch’s brother, however, is certainly a “somebody”: Stephen Colbert.

Still, others believe Colbert Busch's efforts represent her abilities as a candidate and the potential of the Democrats, who need to win 17 seats in the House next year to acquire majority control.

"The fact that the Democrat made this competitive is a testament to the strength of Elizabeth Colbert Busch as a candidate and the Republican habit of nominating flawed candidates," New York Rep. Steve Israel of New York, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee told USA Today. "Democrats will be aggressive and drive deep into Republican-held territory this cycle to find districts with flawed candidates where we can compete."

Sanford, won the special election after Rep. Tim Scott was appointed to the Senate, will run for re-election in 2014.

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