Sanford with supporters in Charleston, S.C. on Tuesday. (Bruce Smith/AP)
Former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford advanced Tuesday to a runoff for the Republican nomination for the state’s open congressional seat, although he failed to win the 50 percent necessary to outright advance to the general election. Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert, won the Democratic nomination. Sanford, who captured 37 percent of the vote, will face his runner-up in a special election on April 2, although it’s still unclear who came in second so far as former Charleston County chairman Curtis Bostic held such a slim lead over state Sen. Larry Grooms that an automatic recount has already been put into place. It’s Sanford’s first appearance on the ballot since he resigned as governor in 2009, when he disappeared for days but later admitted he was meeting his Argentine mistress, to whom he is now engaged.