CONCORD, N.H. — CONCORD, N.H. (AP, WLTX) - Republican Mark Sanford says he is ending his longshot 2020 presidential bid.
The former South Carolina governor and congressman centered his Republican primary challenge to President Donald Trump on warnings about the national debt. But he struggled to gain traction since announcing his run in September.
Sanford told CBS News his bid a "casualty of the impeachment process." He added there was "no appetite on the right for a nuanced conversation on the fiscal deficit.
The longshot effort became even harder as a handful of state parties canceled their primaries and other nominating contests, including in Sanford's home state of South Carolina.
Sanford's decision to end his run comes little more than a week after he moved his campaign's "home base" to New Hampshire.
Sanford had tried to use his campaign to focus the GOP on fiscal responsibility.
“I think we’re headed toward the most predictable financial crisis in the history of our nation,” he said months ago to News19. “If you look at our numbers in terms of debt and deficits, we are having zero conversation on that very front. I think the Republican Party, which I have been a part of for a long time has abandoned its conversation even on the importance of financial reality. And so, I’m just struck that if no one says something, we’re going to wait until the next presidential election cycle to have this needed conversation on where we go next as a country on debt, spending and the deficits that are growing.”
“If we don’t find ways of speaking up, we’re going to be in a world of hurt.”
MARK SANFORD'S POLITICAL LIFE
From 1995 to 2001, Sanford served as the US Representative for the 1st Congressional District
2003-2011 Governor. During his time as governor, Sanford unsuccessfully attempted to reject $700 million in stimulus funds for South Carolina from President Obama’s 2009 Recovery Act. The money was to go to job creation and economic stimulus. The SC State Supreme Court ruled that only the Legislature could accept or reject the funds. At the time, SC’s unemployment rate was one of the nation’s highest at 9.5 percent
In 2004, trying to make a statement on pork – unneeded extras – in the state budget, Sanford walked into the State House carrying two squealing piglets and proceeded to hold a press conference criticizing House members for a bloated budget. The stunt further deteriorated the relationship between Sanford and the lawmakers.
Sanford, the fiscal conservative, tried to reform SC’s public education system by introducing the Put Parents In Charge voucher system that would give about $2,500 per child to parents who chose to withdraw their children from the public school system and send them to independent schools.
In June 2009, Sanford disappeared for a week after saying that he would be hiking the Appalachian Trail. In reality, he was in Buenos Aires, Argentina, visiting his mistress Maria Belen Chapur.
In 2013-2019 re-elected as US Representative for the 1st Congressional District.
In 2017, Sanford voted to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
In 2018, facing re-election opposition from state Rep. Katie Arrington, Sanford was criticized by Trump as being "nothing but trouble" for Sanford's critical statements on the President's executive order curtailing Muslim immigration in early 2017 and calling for Trump to release his tax returns.
Sanford lost to Arrington in the Republican nomination by a slim margin -- 46.5 percent to Arrington's 50.5 percent.