Mark Sanford

South Carolina's first lady, Jenny Sanford, issued this statement after her husband's news conference. This is from thestate.com. I would like to start by saying I love my husband and I believe I have put forth every effort possible to be the best wife I can be during our almost 20 years of marriage.

So this was how the bizarre story of South Carolina's missing governor would end: with a sad and shocking South American twist. It turns out there was another woman for Gov. Mark Sanford, the married champion of conservative values -- a woman in Buenos Aires, one whom his hometown paper has identified only as "Maria." Their romance blossomed a year ago, after seven years of friendship and the exchange of ideas.

Mark Sanford's extramarital excursion to Latin America is just the latest -- albeit the most lurid -- in a series of setbacks that have plagued Republicans as they struggle to recast the party and promote a new generation of national leaders. Over the last few months, several of the GOP's most touted presidential prospects have fallen away, leaving Republicans increasingly adrift at a time when voter surveys show the party in possibly the worst shape since the troubled days of Watergate.

South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford sat in her oceanfront living room Friday, recalling how her husband repeatedly asked permission to visit his lover in the months after she discovered his affair. "I said absolutely not. It's one thing to forgive adultery; it's another thing to condone it," Jenny Sanford told The Associated Press during a 20-minute interview at the coastal home where she sought refuge with their four sons. They were her first extended comments on the affair.

While Mark Sanford works to salvage his marriage, Republicans are facing the prospect of a different kind of breakup: religious voters walking out on the GOP. A series of sex-related scandals over the last few years has undercut the party's assertions of moral authority and, worse, may serve to reinforce the doubts that many evangelical voters have traditionally harbored about the unholiness of the political realm.

Gov. Mark Sanford declared his Argentine mistress his soul mate Tuesday but said he was committed to reconciling with his wife in hopes of saving his family and what was left of his political career. Sanford, who also admitted meeting his lover more times than he had previously claimed, said in emotional interviews that he had "crossed lines" with other women during 20 years of marriage.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford defied calls for his resignation from GOP leaders Wednesday, insisting he will remain in office even as his political fortunes dimmed in the wake of his admission that he secretly traveled abroad to meet a mistress. Political opinion shifted after a pair of emotional interviews in which Sanford, a Republican, described his Argentine mistress as his soul mate and admitted to a handful of encounters with other women that "crossed lines."

A resolution calling for the impeachment of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford is expected to be filed with the state House of Representatives today, setting up what could be an ugly and protracted battle between the Legislature and a scandal-plauged lame-duck governor who has vowed to stay until his term expires in early 2011. The measure is expected to be filed by Republican State Rep. F. Gregory Delleney Jr., according to The State newspaper in Columbia. But the matter could take some time to resolve.

Would a governor in a state with the third-highest unemployment rate in the nation really say no to President Obama's stimulus money? That is the question reverberating through South Carolina, where Republican Mark Sanford -- a popular second-term governor and noted fiscal conservative -- says he may reject some of the $2.8 billion in federal funds headed to his state. Some observers suspect that the governor, who is regularly mentioned as a presidential contender in 2012, is just grandstanding.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford broke state law when he charged taxpayers for business and first-class flights, according to the chairman of the legislative committee investigating Sanford's international travel. State Sen. David Thomas, whose budget committee investigated Sanford's flights after reports last month by the Associated Press, sent evidence to Senate leaders Monday arguing that the Republican governor violated state laws requiring the cheapest travel possible. Thomas said Sanford's more expensive flights on two state Commerce Department trips cost taxpayers $13,700 more than economy class.