Mark Sanford Files for SC 1st District GOP Nomination

Former South Carolina Governor and Congressman Mark Sanford filed paperwork on Monday to seek the Republican nomination for the state's 1st Congressional District, launching a comeback bid for the seat he once held amid a crowded primary field.

The filing came hours before the deadline, as the district's current representative, Nancy Mace, vacates the position to pursue the GOP gubernatorial nomination. The 1st District stretches along South Carolina's coastline from Hilton Head Island northward past Charleston and is rated as solidly Republican by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. Sanford, 64, enters the June 9 primary with more than $1.3 million in unused funds from prior campaigns, giving him a financial edge in a race that already features at least eight other Republican candidates, including state Representative Mark Smith and several county officials. Democrats have fielded a handful of contenders, such as Mac Deford, who is mounting a rematch after a narrow primary loss in 2024.

Sanford's political career began in the 1st District, where he won election as an outsider in 1994 despite limited name recognition. He served until 2001, adhering to a self-imposed...