 "Photo: Mary Ann Chastain/The Associated Press")
COLUMBIA, S.C. — After going AWOL for seven days, Gov. Mark Sanford admitted Wednesday that he had secretly flown to Argentina to visit a woman with whom he was having an affair. Wiping away tears, he apologized to his wife and four sons and said he will resign as head of the Republican Governors Association.
“I’ve been unfaithful to my wife,” he said in a bombshell news conference in which the 49-year-old governor ruminated aloud with remarkable frankness on God’s law, moral absolutes and following one’s heart. He said he spent the last five days “crying in Argentina.”
Sanford, who in recent months was mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2012, ignored questions about whether he would step down as governor.
At least one state lawmaker called for his resignation. As a congressman, Sanford voted in favor of three of four articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, citing the need for “moral legitimacy.”
The affair is now over, Sanford said, describing the woman who lives in Argentina as a “dear, dear friend” that he’s known for about eight years and been romantically involved with for about a year. He said he’s seen her three times since the affair began, and his wife found out about it five months ago.
“What I did was wrong. Period,” he said. His family did not attend the news conference, and his wife Jenny Sanford said she asked the governor to leave and stop speaking to her two weeks ago. The governor says he wants to reconcile, and his wife’s statement said her husband has earned a chance to resurrect their marriage.
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