ROCK HILL, S.C. — Ten people are running to replace the late Senator Lindsey Graham on the ballot, including former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford.
Channel 9’s Tina Terry spoke with Sanford about why he decided to jump into the race.
Sanford spent eight years as South Carolina’s governor and served two terms in congress but for nearly eight years he has been quiet, until now.
“I’m worried about our country and what comes next for our four boys,” Sanford said, “I’m now a grandfather, which is amazing, but I’m worried about our little grandson and what kind of opportunities are gonna be there for him?”
He is talking about the numbers including the country’s $39 trillion national debt.
“I mean, Social Security schedule will go bankrupt in five and a half years,” Sanford said, ”Medicare schedule go bankrupt in six and a half years. And yet we’re not having a conversation about the math of the way our federal government runs. And I think that conversation is desperately needed because I think it’s got to change."
Sanford was known to have a knack for numbers during his eight years as South Carolina’s top leader.
“I think that executive experience over eight years matters in the results that we were able to produce, whether that was on the spending front or in reforming of government, so it worked better for people,” Sanford said, “We took wait times at DMV offices from 66 minutes down to 15 minutes. That’s something that, I mean, you can take a tax of money from people or you can take a tax of time from people.”
Sanford added, “It was those kinds of things of trying to make government work better for people that I think does set us apart.”
In 2009, a very public marital affair rocked his second term as governor. He says the experience was a great teacher.
“My biggest lessons in life have come from failure rather than success,” Sanford said, “And what I mean by that is, there’s a level of empathy that comes after you failed. And I think it’s made me not only a better dad and a better business guy, but think it’d make me a better leader.”
After the scandal came a remarkable comeback. Sanford won a special election in 2013 for U.S. Congress where he served two full terms.
He has spent the past five years in the logistics business, gaining a perspective that he says will help him in the senate.
“I mean, I just think that there’s a value to not being in office and being in the real world so that you feel the pressures that the people I’ve been talking to all day are feeling on a daily basis,” Sanford said.
But can he win without President Donald Trump’s endorsement? Sanford said, yes, because ideas matter and he believes people are ready for the ideas he has right now.
Before you head out to the polls -- check out The Political Beat South Carolina candidate guide.
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