COLUMBIA, S.C. — Mark Sanford filed candidacy paperwork with state officials hours before the deadline to run in the June 9 GOP primary for South Carolina's 1st Congressional District seat. The former governor issued an email release on his candidacy that focused on the national debt.

Sanford, 65, previously held the 1st Congressional District seat twice. His first political office was as the representative for South Carolina's 1st Congressional District. He served six years as a U.S. Representative for South Carolina's 1st Congressional District before running for governor, where he served for eight years.

In 2009, while serving as governor, Sanford disappeared and traveled to Argentina to see his lover without informing his wife, family, or staff. He faced an ethics inquiry and calls to resign over the affair but remained in office until his term ended. He left office at the end of his term as governor by choice.

Following his governorship, Sanford returned to electoral politics in 2013. He won back his former congressional seat that year, defeating 15 other candidates in a primary and runoff. He finished second in the initial primary and then won the runoff for the open 1st Congressional District seat. He won two full terms representing South Carolina's 1st Congressional District after his 2013 victory.

In 2018, Sanford lost the 1st Congressional District election to a Republican challenger backed by President Donald Trump. Also in 2018, the 1st Congressional District seat flipped to Democratic control for the first time in decades. Nancy Mace won the 1st Congressional District seat in 2020 and is a candidate in the 2026 South Carolina gubernatorial election.

Since leaving Congress, Sanford has remained politically active. He sought the 2020 Republican presidential nomination, challenging President Donald Trump, but withdrew from the 2020 Republican presidential primary ahead of the New Hampshire primary. South Carolina did not hold a Republican presidential primary in 2020.

Since leaving the U.S. House, Sanford has maintained over $1.3 million in a federal campaign account. The primary field for the June 9 election includes both Republican and Democratic candidates.