From the Associated Press:

As part of Wednesday's deal, he admits he violated the agreement on Feb. 3 and on other occasions.

Under the consent order signed by both parties, a family court judge will withhold sentencing as long as Sanford abides by the provisions of their 2010 divorce decree that says neither party may enter the other's home without permission.

Sanford also agreed to pay $5000 to Jenny Sanford in legal fees.

Jenny Sanford had filed multiple complaints against her ex-husband, saying that he ”entered into a pattern of entering onto plaintiff’s property. Plaintiff has informed defendant on a number of occasions that this behavior is in violation of the court’s order and has demanded that it not occur again.”

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The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza has it figured out:

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Yes, underperforming for a Republican in a heavily Republican district, in a special election, is definitely proof that Sanford was a superior candidate, and not merely that he had an R by his name. If anything, Sanford's victory proves that candidates matter only in terms of ideology, not biography. In a very conservative district, the Republican candidate will win, even if he's a weird creep with a humiliating past.

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When a poll a few weeks ago put her ahead of former Gov. Mark Sanford by 9 points in South Carolina’s 1st District special election, Democrats perked up at the prospect of an unlikely victory in the heart of Dixie. But there was reason to be skeptical of that poll, and when the votes were tallied Tuesday night reality asserted itself quickly, with Sanford posting a relatively easy 54-45 percent win.

In hindsight, no one should be surprised. There’s plenty of chatter this morning about supposed turning points in the race, dramatic moments when Sanford snatched the momentum from his Democratic opponent and won over reluctant swing voters. But who knows if Sanford was ever really trailing by that much in the first place. More likely, the SC-1 special election is simply the latest example of white voters in the South – and particularly the Deep South – doing what they almost always do these days: vote Republican.

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The Washington Post reports:

Mitt Romney won this district by 18 points last fall, but Sanford’s personal history made the seat competitive. Democrats poured money into the race while national Republicans abandoned their candidate, giving Colbert Busch a 5-to-1 advantage in outside spending.

Those ads, and Colbert Busch herself, made an issue out of Sanford’s 2009 disappearance to be with his Argentinean mistress, which led to an ethics investigation into his travel.

In spite of that cash and a trespassing complaint filed by Sanford’s ex-wife in the 48 hours before the election, he was gaining momentum. Throughout the race he tied Colbert Busch to national Democrats and emphasized his own fiscal conservatism, an ultimately successful strategy.

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Reuters reports:

The Justice Department said in a statement it was monitoring the election under provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The law bars election discrimination on the basis of race, color or membership in a minority language group.

The department did not give a reason for the monitoring. Tuesday's vote will take place under South Carolina's new law mandating photo identification for voters, and Justice Department monitors observed primary elections.

 

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National Republicans nominally abandoned Sanford after it became public that he was being sued by his ex-wife Jenny for violating a no-trespassing order at her home – to watch the Super Bowl with his son, he claimed – on top of that small matter of violating his oath of office as governor when he disappeared for five days to be with his Argentine mistress (now his fiancée) back in 2009, on the taxpayer’s dime.

Sanford fell 9 points behind Colbert-Busch in a PPP poll after the trespassing revelation (more on that possibly flawed poll later), but he’s a point ahead in the latest PPP survey, and could very well win.

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According to ThinkProgress, multiple individuals in the state have reported receiving phone calls from the shady conservative group “SSI Polling," which claims to be polling on the race between Colbert Busch and Mark Sanford, but does not mention Sanford at all in the calls.

According to ThinkProgress, some of the questions were:

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"I rocked it," Colbert Busch said following Monday's 75-minute debate before an audience of about 500 at The Citadel, which was telecast on C-SPAN. Sanford, a former two-term governor trying to revive a political career damaged by an extramarital affair, said he would let the pundits decide who won.

With Election Day just a week away, both have separate appearances Tuesday, then appear before a Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce group on the city's waterfront before attending a forum sponsored by the Goose Creek NAACP. During both appearances, the candidates will address attendees but won't debate.

They did debate Monday, before a lively audience where supporters frequently broke into shouts or applause.

Early on, Colbert Busch, the sister of political satirist Stephen Colbert, reminded Sanford that he once used taxpayer funds to "leave the country for a personal purpose" - referring to the extramarital affair with an Argentine woman he had while governor. In general, Colbert Busch has refused to bring up Sanford's personal past during the campaign.

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From the poll:

Colbert Busch's lead is on the rise for several reasons. She has a 51/35 advantage with independents. She's winning over 19% of Republicans, while losing just 7% of Democrats. And it also seems that after last week's revelations about Sanford that a lot of GOP voters are planning to just stay at home- while the district supported Mitt Romney by 18 points last fall, those planning to turn out for the special election voted for him by only a 5 point spread.

Last week's revelations involve the reportedly multiple complaints filed by Jenny Sanford, Mark Sanford's ex-wife, accusing him of trespassing and violating the terms of their divorce.

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The ad, called "A Walk," shows someone hiking through the woods, meant to signify "hiking the Appalachian Trail," or what Sanford staffers said he was doing when he disappeared from the state in 2009 and went to Argentina for an affair. Sanford "walked out on us, violated our trust, secretly used thousands of taxpayer dollars flying to Argentina and then lied about it," the ad says.

"Sanford paid the largest ethics fine in state history. Now he wants our trust again? Maybe Mark Sanford should just keep walking," it continues.

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According to documents obtained by The Washington Post:

According to documents obtained by the Washington Post, Jenny Sanford filed a complaint against Mark Sanford in March 2012 for violating the terms of having their sons on the Sanford family’s Coosaw plantation. The terms state that “no airplanes will be flown at the children.”

She has also accused him of failing to properly insure the property and of missing a child support payment. Jenny Sanford told AP the latter situation has been resolved.

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Politico reports:

Blindsided by news that Sanford’s ex-wife has accused him of trespassing and concluding he has no plausible path to victory, the National Republican Congressional Committee has decided not to spend more money on Sanford’s behalf ahead of the May 7 special election.

“Mark Sanford has proven he knows what it takes to win elections. At this time, the NRCC will not be engaged in this special election,” said Andrea Bozek, an NRCC spokeswoman.

The decision by the NRCC comes the same day the Associated Press reported that Jenny Sanford, Mark Sanford's ex-wife, filed a trespassing complaint that accused him of ”enter[ing] into a pattern of entering onto plaintiff’s property. Plaintiff has informed defendant on a number of occasions that this behavior is in violation of the court’s order and has demanded that it not occur again.”

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From the AP:

The complaint says Jenny Sanford confronted Sanford leaving her Sullivans Island home on Feb. 3 by a rear door, using his cell phone for a flashlight. Her attorney filed the complaint the next day and Jenny Sanford confirmed Tuesday the documents are authentic.

The couple's 2010 divorce settlement says neither may enter the other's home without permission. Mark Sanford lives about a 20-minute drive away in downtown Charleston.

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The complaint says Jenny Sanford confronted Sanford leaving her Sullivans Island home on Feb. 3 by a rear door, using his cell phone for a flashlight. Her attorney filed the complaint the next day and Jenny Sanford confirmed Tuesday the documents are authentic.

The couple's 2010 divorce settlement says neither may enter the other's home without permission. Mark Sanford lives about a 20-minute drive away in downtown Charleston.

Republican Mark Sanford is trying to revive his political career that was derailed by an extramarital affair that ended the couple's marriage. He faces Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch on May 7 as he tries to regain the 1st District congressional seat he held for three terms in the 1990s.

Spokesman Joel Sawyer said the Sanford campaign had no immediate comment on the court documents.

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Sexual politics are changing, but we don’t see it happening. Gay marriage acceptance is one -– right now, very noticeable -– part of it. We are at a turning point, with or without a Hillary Clinton presidency. In her new, attention-grabbing book, "Lean In," Sheryl Sandberg points out how backward our country remains insofar as women are still being evaluated by more rigorous standards, and men are still given to commit acts that would not be tolerated from women occupying the same position.

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"Well, you know, at the end of the day, Stephen Colbert's a very popular, you know, well-regarded comedian, but at the end of the day he's not on the ticket," Sanford said on MSNBC on Wednesday, according to TPM.

Addressing an internal poll from Colbert-Busch's campaign that shows her with a slight lead, Sanford said: "[W]e're going to have a debate about ideas, and I think that when people really begin to digest those ideas, some real strong contrasts in terms of where she would be vs. where I would be, I think that will substantially change a poll that I think now simply defines name and ID as people know it, not issue ID. And I think ultimately debates in campaigns are decided on issues."

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Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, a Republican trying to make a comeback after his political career was derailed by his admission of an extramarital affair, faces Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, the sister of political satirist Stephen Colbert, in a May 7 special election.

Sanford defeated former Charleston County Councilman Curtis Bostic in the GOP primary runoff Tuesday, clearing another hurdle in his quest for political redemption. He finished first last month in a 16-candidate field in the primary in the state's 1st Congressional District, which runs northeast along the coast from Hilton Head Island through Charleston and to the Georgetown County line.

Colbert Busch — who once worked in Washington as an intern for then-U.S. Senator Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, D-S.C. — has had a lifelong dream of running for public office. The businesswoman has said jobs is a top priority for her campaign. Colbert Busch has worked in the shipping industry for years and is now on a leave of absence from her position as the director of business development for Clemson University's Wind Turbine Drive Testing Facility.

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Politico reports:

An event in Washington featuring the Comedy Central host is scheduled for April 15, while Colbert and former investment banker Sallie Krawcheck will host a New York City event April 23; that event will be at Krawcheck’s home.

For the D.C. event, a minimum donation of $2,600 is required to attend the private reception, while general admission tickets to the fundraiser cost $500.

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So what is it about Sanford that made him so forgivable, while politicians like Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer have not been?

One theory is that in New York, the tabloid culture is so pervasive and persistent that it made it much harder for Spitzer and Weiner to survive after their scandals broke, and to rehabilitate themselves for a potential comeback.

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