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Mark Sanford won't have primary, general challenger

Mark Sanford will stroll unopposed to reelection this fall.

By Gabrielle Levy
South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford. (UPI Photo/Alexis C. Glenn/File)
South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford. (UPI Photo/Alexis C. Glenn/File) | License Photo

WASHINGTON, March 31 (UPI) -- A year after his improbable comeback victory to win a special election for South Carolina's 1st Congressional District seat, Rep. Mark Sanford will run unopposed in his bid for reelection this fall.

With the state's March 30 filing deadline past, the Republican, who also served three terms as the representative from South Carolina's 1st District in the 1990s, will face no challenger either in his party or in November's election.

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"I think Congressman Sanford is doing what he was elected to do by working to cut spending, shrink government and protect liberty," his chief of staff, Jon Kohan, said. "I believe that not receiving major party opposition in his reelection bid is a testament to that."

Sanford, who was embroiled in a scandal as governor in 2009 when he disappeared for several days and was later found to be visiting his mistress in Argentina, won a special election last year to fill the seat vacated when Rep. Tim Scott was appointed to the Senate.

Sanford faced a crowded Republican field, but handily won his primary with 37 percent of the vote, with the second-place finisher earning just 13 percent. He went on to defeat Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch 54 percent to 45 percent in the general election.

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