By Kathy Groob, Founder ElectWomen.com – For six days in 2009, the people of South Carolina didn’t know if their governor, Mark Sanford, was dead or alive. When Sanford finally surfaced, he was in Argentina with a woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair. Even his wife of 21 years didn’t know his whereabouts for four of those six days. Sanford ignored 15 calls from his chief of staff and calls from his wife. Upon his return to South Carolina, Sanford said he had been “hiking the Appalachian Trail”, but later admitted he was hiking in Argentina.  He was immediately threatened with impeachment by his own party if he did not resign because it was apparent he was doing more than hiking in Argentina.

Yesterday, the Republican voters of South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District elected Mark Sanford to be the nominee in the special election for the open Congressional seat on May 7th. Sanford is trying to resurrect his political career after ultimately being censured and leaving office in disgrace in 2010.  He has asked the voters for forgiveness and is counting on God to pull him through.

The 1st Congressional District has not been held by a Democrat in 30 years, but Elizabeth Colbert Busch now has a chance to remind voters about those six days in the hopes that they will recall Sanford’s failure in office. Back in 2009, Republicans were quick to criticize Sanford’s actions and even questioned his stability.

The Daily News reported at the time: “South Carolina’s top Democrat, state Sen. John Land, issued a statement saying he was praying for the missing governor.”

“We’ve been concerned by the governor’s erratic behavior for some time,” he said. “We’re praying for him and his family. I hope he is safe and that he contacts the First Lady and his family soon.”

Elizabeth Colbert Busch will be counting on voters to make sure they put someone in Congress who won’t go AWOL on them.