CHARLESTON — Former S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford said Tuesday he is overwhelmed by the support he has received as he tries to mount a political comeback and win the congressional seat he once held in the 1990s.

It has been almost a month since Sanford announced he would seek the GOP nomination for the vacant 1st District seat.

The former two-term governor told reporters in a conference call he is appreciative of the reception he has received since he has been campaigning along the state’s south coast.

Sanford is one of 16 Republicans and two Democrats seeking the seat vacated when U.S. Rep. Tim Scott was appointed to the state’s U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the resignation of Jim DeMint.

Sanford’s political career was derailed four years ago when he disappeared for five days and then returned to the state to admit an affair with an Argentine woman to whom he is now engaged.

“It’s not like anybody is unaware of what happened, but what I’ve found is there is an amazing reservoir of human grace out there that is a reflection of God’s grace at large. I have seen it. I have felt it. I have dealt with it on a daily basis,” Sanford said.

“There are some people who will never forgive me, and I think that is a real world consequence of sin and failure,” he added. “But there is a larger group of people who say I’m not going to judge you any more on your worst day than on your best day.”

The conference call was to announce Sanford’s endorsement by state Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, once Sanford’s chief of staff when he was governor.

The Associated Press

Senate plan would expand in-vehicle breathalyzers for DUIs

A bill to expand a state program that requires drunken-driving offenders to install breathalyzers in their vehicles advanced to the Senate Tuesday.

First offenders who have a blood-alcohol content of 0.12 percent or higher would be required to install a breathalyzer device connected to their vehicle’s ignition systems if the bill becomes law, said state Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg.

The device prevents the vehicle from starting if the driver has a certain blood-alcohol level.

The state does not now require first offenders to install the ignition-interlock device, Hutto said. Second and third offenders already are required to install the device, following the suspension of their licenses, as a condition of driving again. The bill would eliminate the suspension period for second and third offenders and require them to install the device immediately.

Supporters see the changes as giving offenders a way to drive legally, helping them get to work, Hutto said. Now, some drivers with suspended licenses drive anyway.

State Sen. Gerald Malloy, D-Darlington, who expressed concern about forcing some first-time offenders to use the device, asked a minority report be placed on the bill, which could make it more difficult to pass, said Judiciary chairman Larry Martin, R-Pickens, unless the Senate can reach a compromise.

Jamie Self