2009 disappearance and extramarital affair
From June 18 until June 24, 2009, the whereabouts of Sanford were unknown to the public, his wife, and the State Law Enforcement Division (which provides security for all South Carolina governors). The mystery surrounding Sanford's whereabouts garnered nationwide news coverage; his absence was first reported by Jim Davenport of the Associated Press. Lieutenant Governor André Bauer announced that he could not "take lightly" that Sanford's staff had not communicated with him "for more than four days, and that no one, including his own family, knows his whereabouts."
Before his disappearance, Sanford told his staff that he would be hiking on the Appalachian Trail. While he was gone, he did not answer 15 cell phone calls from his chief of staff; he also failed to call his family on Father's Day.
Reporter Gina Smith of The State (the daily newspaper of Columbia, South Carolina) intercepted Sanford when he arrived at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport on a flight from Argentina. Several hours later, after learning that evidence of his true whereabouts was being swiftly discovered by the media, Sanford held a news conference during which he admitted to adultery. In emotional interviews with the Associated Press over two days, Sanford said he would die "knowing that I had met my soul mate." Sanford also said that he "crossed the lines" with a handful of other women during 20 years of marriage, but not as far as he did with his mistress. "There were a handful of instances wherein I crossed the lines I shouldn't have crossed as a married man, but never crossed the ultimate line", he said.
On June 25, La Nación, a Buenos Aires newspaper, identified Sanford's mistress as María Belén Chapur, a 43-year-old divorced mother of two with a university degree in international relations who lived in Buenos Aires. Earlier, The State published details of e-mails between Sanford and a woman only identified as "Maria". Sanford met Chapur at a dance in Uruguay in 2001 and admitted that a more intimate relationship with her had begun in 2008.
Sanford's wife had become aware of her husband's infidelities approximately five months before the scandal broke, and the two had sought marriage counseling. Jenny Sanford said that she had requested a trial separation about two weeks before his disappearance.
Sanford told reporters that months before his affair became public, he had sought counsel at a controversial religious organization called The Family, of which he became a member when he was a representative in Washington, D.C. from 1995 to 2001.
According to Survey USA, Sanford's approval ratings in South Carolina after his admission of infidelity (6–24–09) showed that "60% think the governor should resign. 34% feel he should remain in office."
On August 25, state representatives Nathan Ballentine and Gary Simrill met with Sanford and warned him that the state legislature would impeach him if he did not resign. Ballentine, an ally of Sanford's, said afterward, "I told him the writing is on the wall. ...he could put an end to it all, but if he doesn't, members of the House will take things into their hands." Sanford still declined to resign.
On August 28, The Washington Times reported that Republican lawmakers in South Carolina were "laying plans" for a special legislative session on whether to impeach Sanford. Two bills of impeachment were being prepared, with bipartisan support in the state legislature.
On October 23, 2009, two impeachment resolutions were introduced, but were blocked by Democrats in the South Carolina legislature. A month later, the resolution was successfully introduced and it was announced that an ad hoc committee would begin drafting articles of impeachment starting on November 24. Meanwhile, the Ethics Commission formally charged Sanford with 37 violations.
On December 3, during its third public hearing on the matter, the ad hoc committee unanimously voted to remove the vast majority of charges from the investigation, stating that they did not warrant "overturning an election." On December 9, the committee voted 6–1 against impeachment, stating that the legislature had better things to do.
On December 15, 2009, the South Carolina House Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to censure Sanford. The full South Carolina House of Representatives passed the resolution by a vote of 102–11 in January 2010.
Sanford resigned as Chairman of the Republican Governors Association following the disclosure of his affair. He was swiftly succeeded by Mississippi governor Haley Barbour. In a June 29 email to members of his political action committee, Sanford said he had no intention of resigning as governor.
After his affair was revealed in June 2009, Sanford said: "There's been a lot of speculation and innuendo on whether or not public money were used to advance my admitted unfaithfulness. To be very clear: no public money was ever used in connection with this." After a Freedom of Information Act request was filed, Sanford eventually chose to reimburse taxpayers for expenses he had incurred one year earlier with his mistress in Argentina. He said, "I made a mistake while I was there in meeting with the woman who I was unfaithful to my wife with. That has raised some very legitimate concerns and questions, and as such, I am going to reimburse the state for the full cost of the Argentina leg of this trip." On August 9, 2009, the AP reported that Sanford may have violated state law by other inappropriate use of state planes, including using a state plane to get a haircut.
After telling Vogue magazine that her husband was having a "midlife crisis," Sanford's wife, Jenny Sanford, moved out of the South Carolina Governor’s Mansion with the couple's four sons, returning to the family home on Sullivan’s Island. On December 11, 2009, she announced that she was filing for divorce, calling it a "sad and painful process." The divorce was finalized in March 2010. A stipulation within the divorce papers required that while on the Sanford family's Coosaw plantation, "no airplanes will be flown at children." The papers also noted that Sanford liked to "unwind" by digging holes on the property with his hydraulic excavator.
In August 2012, Sanford became engaged to Chapur. The engagement was subsequently broken off in September 2014.
In September 2014, Jenny Sanford unsuccessfully petitioned Judge Daniel Martin Jr. to require that Mark Sanford undergo a psychiatric exam and take parenting and anger management classes. Judge Martin ordered the parties to go to mediation.
