Mark Sanford Announces Bid For Lindsey Graham’s Senate Seat

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Mark Sanford Announces Bid For Lindsey Graham’s Senate Seat

Former Republican South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford announced he is running to replace the late Senator Lindsey Graham.

Sanford’s central message in his bid to succeed Lindsey Graham’s sister, interim Senator Darline Graham, is that Washington must “get its finances back in order.” (RELATED: Mark Sanford Attempts Comeback)

In a campaign announcement video posted to X, Sanford tied his focus on the national debt to his own personal experiences, recalling that his father was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease when he was in high school. He said the “notion that we all just have a little time” has stayed with him throughout his life, adding that “Lindsey’s death is a reminder of how short and precious life is.”

Sanford previously filed to run for his old House of Representatives seat, currently held by Republican South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, who vacated to run for governor. Sanford lost re-election to the seat in 2018 after Trump endorsed his then-primary opponent, Katie Arrington.

Trump, at the time, referred to Sanford as “nothing but trouble.” It was the first time the president had gone after a Republican incumbent in a midterm primary.

Sanford later launched a 2020 presidential campaign against Trump, though it only lasted two months.

In April, Sanford dropped his bid to win back his old House seat to instead launch a national nonprofit and grassroots movement focusing on tackling the national debt, according to a report from The Hill.

Now a father and grandfather, the 65-year-old former congressman warned that “we are borrowing from the future faster than we are spending it,” arguing that the growing national debt threatens Americans’ ability to build a stable future. “Our ability to afford things, inflation, the way people struggle to build a life is a symptom of spending beyond our means as a country,” he said.

“We’re at a tipping point, and that’s why I have decided to run for U.S. Senate.”

Sanford, who describes himself as a “fiscal conservative” on his campaign website, is making government spending and the national debt the centerpiece of his Senate campaign. (RELATED: Lindsey Graham Dead At 71)

He then outlined his record as a former Republican South Carolina congressman regarding affordability, his time as governor of the Palmetto State, and how he acted as a “steward” for the state.

In 2009, while serving as governor, Sanford disappeared from the state for nearly a week. Sanford had told his staff he was hiking the Appalachian trail when he was actually in Argentina visiting his mistress. The scandal lead the South Carolina General Assembly to censure Sanford and he resigned as chair of the Republican Governors Association.

Meanwhile, Graham’s sister, interim South Carolina Sen. Darline Graham, officially announced Monday during an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity that she would run for a full Senate term to replace her late brother. (RELATED: Lindsey Graham’s Sister, Interim Replacement Says She’s Running For Full Term)

Hannity noted during an interview that President Donald Trump had publicly urged Darline Graham to run for a full Senate term, a request she acknowledged carried significant weight. “It is a tremendous amount of pressure,” Graham said.

Republican South Carolina Senate candidate Mark Lynch already took a shot at Sanford’s announcement in a post on X, writing, “Mark Sanford’s entrance into the race for Senate only serves to protect Establishment candidates Darline Nordone, Ralph Norman, and Russell Fry.”

Sanford said his focus for running is mitigating America’s debt, deficit and spending, according to a Post and Courier report.

Sanford will join Republican South Carolina Reps. Ralph Norman and Russell Fry as candidates in the GOP runoff to replace Lindsey Graham.