The former governor, left, was closing the gap in recent polls. | AP Photos Sanford defeats Colbert Busch

Republican Mark Sanford has defeated Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District special election. The victory caps a dramatic comeback by the scandal-tinged former governor, whose political career was left for dead four years ago when he was caught lying about an extramarital affair.

With three quarters of precincts reporting, Sanford led 54 percent to 45 percent for Colbert Busch, and The Associated Press called the race.


Sanford, waging a bid for political redemption three years after his fall from grace, went into Election Day with a head of steam. Polls showed the former governor closing on and then eclipsing Colbert Busch, a Clemson University administrator and the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert, who just a couple of weeks ago looked poised for a major upset.

( PHOTOS: Mark Sanford’s career)

The former governor, who in 2009 admitted an affair after infamously claiming to be hiking on the Appalachian Trail, spent the final day in a frenzied dash across South Carolina’s Lowcountry. Once regarded as a viable potential presidential contender, Sanford had said the race would be his last if he fell short.

The race was triggered in December, when Gov. Nikki Haley appointed GOP Rep. Tim Scott to fill Republican Jim DeMint’s vacant Senate seat. It drew a cast worthy of Hollywood: Sanford, Colbert Busch, and Republican Teddy Turner Jr., the son of liberal media mogul Ted Turner, among other candidates.

( QUIZ: Do you know Elizabeth Colbert Busch?)

Sanford cast himself as a changed man seeking a second shot. He easily prevailed in the primary over a crowded field of Republican opponents who struggled to match his fundraising power and universal name ID.

Then, in the general election, he managed to turn the race into a referendum on Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic establishment instead of himself. That was the winning play in the deep red district.

( QUIZ: Do you know Mark Sanford?)

Sanford and Colbert Busch cut starkly different political profiles. Sanford, a political animal, packed his schedule with campaign events in an effort to win over voters who had misgivings. Colbert Busch, a newcomer to the political stage, kept a lower profile and presented herself as a pragmatic-minded, palatable alternative to the former governor. Helping fill her fundraising coffers was her famous brother, who traveled to New York City, Washington, D.C., and Charleston, S.C., to host donor events for her.

Sanford entered the general election as the favorite: The deep-red district has been in Republican hands for more than three decades and broke for Mitt Romney by 18 percentage points. But in April, he was dealt a serious blow when the AP reported that his popular ex-wife, Jenny Sanford, was suing him for trespassing at her Sullivan’s Island home.

The next day, the National Republican Congressional Committee announced that it would cease spending money on the race. The decision left Sanford alone to fight it out against Democratic groups who, eyeing an opportunity to steal a Republican seat, were pummeling him on the airwaves.

With polls showing him in free fall, Sanford battled back by casting Colbert Busch as a tool of House Minority Leader Pelosi and labor unions. He challenged Colbert Busch to say how she’d be independent of party leaders who were helping to fund her campaign.

At one point, Sanford debated a cardboard Pelosi cutout. The theatrics drew ridicule, but Sanford aides — and some Democrats — say the publicity the theatric generated helped drive attention to his message.

Colbert Busch insisted that she would be an independent voice in Congress, and her Democratic allies said Sanford couldn’t be trusted.

The NRCC, which pulled the plug on Sanford’s bid, issued a statement congratulating him after his win.

“Democrats spent more than $1 million trying to elect a candidate who was backed by the Democrat machine,” NRCC Chairman Greg Walden said, “but at the end of the day, running on the Obama-Pelosi ticket was just too toxic for Elizabeth Colbert Busch.”