MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. --Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford defeated Democratic businesswoman Elizabeth Colbert Busch in a special House election for South Carolina's first congressional district, despite an expansive effort among Democrats to turn the district blue for the first time in more than 30 years.
The district seat, which was left open when former Republican Rep. Tim Scott was appointed to the Senate earlier this year, will remain in Republican hands. Before the results came in Tuesday, the seat appeared closer to going Democratic than at any time in the past thirty years.
Sanford, a candidate plagued by scandal after he admitted using public funds to leave the country to visit an Argentine mistress while governor, defeated 15 Republicans earlier this year to secure the party nomination. Aided by running in a solidly Republican district, Sanford overcame his past by arguing that the race was a referendum on President Barack Obama's policies, and that a vote for Colbert Busch would be synonymous with support for liberal Democrats like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
Because of Sanford's blemished past, Democrats saw a rare opportunity to take control of the seat and poured significant resources into the effort. Had they been successful, the victory would have been an important symbolic victory that would have provided momentum for Democrats working to rebuild their majority in the House.
By winning the seat, Sanford will be returning to familiar territory: Before his first term as governor, he represented the district in the House from 1995 to 2001.
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