Seeking redemption, Mark Sanford set to run for Congress again

Former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford (R), who confessed to having an affair with an Argentine woman he's now engaged to, is planning to run for the Congressional seat of Senate appointed Tim Scott.

According to the Washington Post, a strategist with knowledge of Sanford’s plans confirmed an announcement will come soon. CNN’s Peter Hamby first reported the news after speaking with a former top aide to Sanford. “He’s looking all but certain to do it,” the former aide said, who did not want to be identified while prematurely revealing the plans. Goose Creek Patch also confirmed CNN's report: "Sanford is dead serious about this run," a former aide told Patch. "His dire predictions on America's fiscal future have come true. I wouldn't want to be running against him." Sanford intends to seek the Republican nomination in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, a seat being vacated by Rep. Tim Scott, who was appointed to the United States Senate earlier this week by Gov. Nikki Haley. The former South Carolina governor held that seat more than a decade ago. While several other names have been thrown out as potential candidates for the Congressional seat, none are bringing more attention with this announcement than Sanford's ex-wife, former South Carolina First Lady Jenny Sanford, TPM reports. The idea that he could be pitted in the primary against his ex-wife, Jenny, who distanced herself from her husband soon after the affair went public, is not an idea Sanford wishes to entertain. The strategist that confirmed the news to the Washington Post said Sanford would not run against his ex-wife, which suggests Jenny Sanford won’t run for the seat. Sanford was a rising Republican political star before he left South Carolina for five days in 2009 to visit his mistress. Reporters were told he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. The affair destroyed his marriage, which ended in divorce from his wife, Jenny. He is now engaged to his mistress, Maria Belen Chapur. The primary is likely to be held in March, depending on when Scott vacates his House seat.