Will scandal cast shadow on race?

Gov. Mark Sanford's recent scandal is expected to reverberate across South Carolina's campaign trail for the next 11 months as several candidates vie to succeed him.

The effect could play a large role in the GOP primary because two potential candidates, Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer and S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster, were elected to their statewide offices with Sanford and have had various roles after he announced that he had left the state to visit his mistress in Argentina. McMaster called for an investigation of Sanford's travel while Bauer at one point offered to discuss a scenario in which he would not run for governor in 2010 if Sanford stepped down. Neither has officially announced his candidacy.

Bauer said Monday that he's unsure whether Sanford will be much of an issue in the June 2010 primary — or whether he might suffer because he ran on the same GOP ticket.

See our special section on Governor Mark Sanford

"I don't think anybody tries to connect the dots that closely," Bauer said. "I hope they don't. ... When people are looking at a candidate, they ought to be looking at that individual candidate — what they've accomplished in the past and what their goals are for the future."

State Rep. Nikki Haley, R-Lexington, has been a staunch Sanford ally, but she removed his picture from her campaign Web site after the scandal broke. She said the dust hasn't settled fully as far as what state residents think of Sanford, but she remains committed to his agenda of controlling spending and limiting government.

"He no longer is the voice of that reform movement. I am now the new voice of that reform movement, and I won't let that fail because we happened to have some terrible national news," she said. "I'm going to turn around make sure that reform movement gets stronger so that people understand this was never about a person. It was always about the people of this state."

State Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Bonneau, said Sanford will affect the contest.

"The race was shaping up to be about jobs and leadership to create jobs in South Carolina," he said. "I think that's now been slightly altered. I think it's still about jobs, but I think it's also about character. Voters may look at the personal lives of the candidates more closely than they have in previous years."

And Grooms said that's fine with him. "My soul mate is my wife," he said. "I can only see it helping me because I know what's in my closet and it's nothing. I'm a scandal-free candidate. I don't know what's in the closets of everybody else. They can look all they want to with me."

Some political observers have suggested the scandal could help GOP hopeful Congressman Gresham Barrett because of his current distance from Columbia. Barrett, who made a campaign stop Monday in Charleston to emphasize his support of the port here, declined to comment about how Sanford's travails may affect the race.

"I'll let the gurus and political pundits sort that out. What we're concentrating on is what we can affect," Barrett said. His only comment on the Sanford matter has been a brief statement saying, "We keep the governor and his family in our prayers during this difficult time."

The Sanford saga may play a more minor role in the Democratic primary, where the candidates weren't Sanford fans even before the scandal.

State Sen. Vincent Sheheen, D-Camden, has called for Sanford to resign while state Sen. Robert Ford, D-Charleston, has not.

Charleston lawyer Mullins McLeod issued a statement June 30 saying the state's biggest crisis is a lack of jobs. "The sad and disturbing Mark Sanford crisis is another order entirely. Our politicians in Columbia are busy tearing themselves apart with this scandal, focusing on their own political ambitions, while too many South Carolinians are losing their jobs."

Reach Robert Behre at 937-5771 or at rbehre@postandcourier.com.