Gov. Sanford, 'soul mate' meet in Florida

COLUMBIA, S.C., May 13 (UPI) -- South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford admitted he resumed a relationship with his Argentinian "soul mate" during a weekend get-together.

The Web site Gawker received word from tipsters that Sanford and Maria Belen Chapur were in Miami during the weekend. Sanford confirmed the rumors during a news conference Wednesday in South Carolina, Politico reported.

"As a matter of record, everybody in this room knows exactly who I was with over the weekend," Sanford said. "That is no mystery to anybody given what I said last summer. And, you know, the purpose was obviously to see if something could be restarted on that front, given the rather enormous geographic gulf between us. And time will tell. I don't know if it will or won't."

Sanford's relationship with Chapur cost him his marriage and possibly his political future. His staff's claim he was on a solitary hike on the Appalachian Trail when he was actually in Argentina made him the butt of late-night talk shows.

The governor suggested Wednesday reporters should cover something else.

"This obsession with one's personal life at some point has got to end," he said.