Sanford

She is the political wife who bucked tradition. When scandal struck her husband, the governor of South Carolina, she did not stand by his side. Instead, Jenny Sanford packed up her things and their four children and moved out of the governor's mansion for the family's home on Sullivan's Island. On Thursday she issued a letter supporting another "principled, conservative, tough and smart" woman in the crowded Republican primary to succeed Mark Sanford. (You may recall that the governor, who once had presidential aspirations, went AWOL last summer, telling his staff he was hiking along the Appalachian Trail while he was actually in Argentina romping with his mistress.

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.

It's tough these days being from South Carolina. Ask Dick Harpootlian. He was in Peru, on a train from Cusco to Machu Picchu, when he and his wife began chatting with another couple. Where, Harpootlian asked, are you from? Rio, came the response, and you? South Carolina, Harpootlian replied. Mark Sanford! the couple exclaimed. Argentina! Later that night Harpootlian returned to his hotel room, flipped on the TV and picked out two words in a stream of Spanish: Joe Wilson. (As in, "You lie!"

Sixty South Carolina House Republicans asked Gov. Mark Sanford to resign, questioning his ability to lead the state since his unannounced summertime trip to see a mistress in Argentina and investigations of his state and private travel that followed. "Your decision to abandon our state for five days, with no defined order of succession and with no known way to contact you, is inexcusable," said a letter from the lawmakers signed by House Majority Leader Kenny Bingham. The letter, which listed 59 other lawmakers, came a day after the House speaker issued a similar call.

South Carolina's lieutenant governor on Wednesday called for the resignation of Gov. Mark Sanford, citing "serious misconduct" and "serious distractions" that have stemmed from Sanford's extramarital tryst with an Argentine woman. But Sanford declined to step down, calling his understudy's move "pure politics, plain and simple." Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, who, like Sanford, is a Republican, said that he was in fact trying to depoliticize the deliberations over the fate of Sanford, who is facing potential impeachment.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford on Tuesday justified his use of state planes for personal trips in which he often brought along his wife and four sons, saying his taxpayer-funded travel was no different than that of his predecessors. "I've got a busy life, and I've tried as best I can -- within the context of the current mess-up that has been more than well chronicled and more than well talked about -- to be a reasonable father, while at the same time being a good governor," Sanford said in response to questions.

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.