Marshall "Mark" Clement Sanford Jr. (born May 28, 1960) is an American Republican politician who has been the U.S. Representative for South Carolina's 1st congressional district since 2013; previously he held the same post from 1995 to 2001. Sanford was the Governor of South Carolina from 2003 until 2011. First elected to Congress in 1994, Sanford left when he was elected Governor of South Carolina in 2002, defeating Democratic incumbent Jim Hodges, and re-elected governor in 2006. As governor, Sanford had a contentious relationship with the South Carolina legislators. Sanford unsuccessfully and unpopularly attempted to reject $700 million in stimulus funds for South Carolina from the 2009 Recovery Act. However, a South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that only the legislature, not the governor, has the authority to accept or decline the stimulus funds. In the House, he has been identified as a libertarian Republican, and was previously an ally of Ron Paul during their time in the House together.In June 2009, after an unexplained disappearance that made national headlines, Sanford publicly revealed that he had engaged in an affair with María Belén Chapur, an Argentine woman. While it led to censure by the South Carolina General Assembly and his resignation as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, it did not result in Sanford's actual resignation from the governorship.