Mark Sanford

From Free net encyclopedia

Revision as of 05:47, 20 April 2006 Brookshawn (Talk | contribs) formatting headings: do we really need to categorize links so extensively? ← Previous diff

Current revision Brookshawn (Talk | contribs) formatting headings: do we really need to categorize links so extensively?

---

Current revision

{{Infobox_Governor |name= His Excellency Mark Sanford |image= Gov._Mark_Sanford.jpg |caption= |order=115^th |office= Governor of South Carolina |term_start= January 15, 2003 |term_end=present |lieutenant= André Bauer |predecessor= James Hovis Hodges |successor=incumbent |birth_date= May 28, 1960 |birth_place= Fort Lauderdale, Florida |death_date= |death_place= |spouse= Jenny Sanford |profession= Real estate, Politics |party= Republican |footnotes= }}

Marshall Clement "Mark" Sanford, Jr. (born May 28, 1960) is an American politician who has been governor of South Carolina since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Contents 1 Biography 2 External links 2.1 Statements 2.2 Campaign finance links 2.3 Congressional Records

Biography

Sanford was born in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and moved with his family to the 3000 acre Coosaw Plantation near Beaufort, South Carolina before his senior year of high school. He received a bachelor's degree from Furman University, and an MBA from Darden Graduate School of Business Administration. He moved with his family to Sullivan's Island, South Carolina in the early '90s. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994, representing the Charleston-based 1st Congressional District, and served from 1995 to 2001. While in Congress, he was an advocate for Social Security privatization and restoring U.S. trade ties with Cuba.

In 2000, he chose not to run again, in accordance with his pledge not to serve more than three terms. He then ran for governor in 2002; he first defeated Lt. Gov. Bob Peeler in the Republican primary and then defeated the Democratic incumbent, Jim Hodges, in the general election, by a margin of 53% to 47%.

In accordance with South Carolina law, Sanford was elected separately from the state's Republican lieutenant governor, Andre Bauer. From the public's perspective, the two men seem to have a rather distant and icy relationship.

Sanford, though, has had an outright contentious relationship with the South Carolina General Assembly, even though it is dominated by his party (which has controlled the body since 1995). On May 26, 2004, the Republican-led SC House of Representatives overrode 105 of Sanford's 106 budget vetoes. The following day Sanford brought live pigs into the House chamber as a visual protest against "pork projects." The pigs proved not to be housebroken.

Despite once proposing a large increase in the cigarette tax, Sanford professess to be a firm supporter of limited government, and many pundits have described his views as being libertarian in nature. There are several Internet-based groups trying to convince him to run for president in 2008. Most recently, he has embarked on an ambitious plan to reform methods of funding the state's public education system. This would include measures such as school vouchers, aimed at introducing competition into the school system as a means of spurring improvement. This would also allow for parents who wish for their children to be educated in a private or religious setting easier access at doing so. The plan, known as "Put Parents In Charge," would provide around $2,500 per child to parents who wished to withdraw their children from the State's public school and instead send them to religious and other private schools. Sanford has framed this plan as a necessary market-based reform. Sanford has also sought to reform the state's public college system. Schools such as Clemson and the University of South Carolina have repeatedly increased tuition yearly, making them the costiliest schools on average in the south. They claim these increases are necessary to encourage research projects and development due to the State Legislature not fully funded them. Sanford has criticized these schools as focusing too much on separately creating research institutions and not on educating the young adults of South Carolina. Sanford has suggested that they combine some programs as a means of curbing tuition increases. These schools did not respond positively to this, however, causing Sanford to remark that if they did not like the idea of changing then they could "go private."

On the other hand, Sanford has repeatedly misstepped as governor. For example, he was roundly criticized for disappearing in the middle of his first budget debate to attend a yacht race in Bermuda. He delayed signing a crucial piece of domestic violence legislationso he could go on a cruise, and received blistering treatment at the hands of once-favorable editorial boards. And he evoked shades of Joe Biden by plagiarizing an internet joke and pretending it was an actual incident that had occurred to his family -- and using the whole thing to illustrate the importance of honesty during a speech to boy scouts.

Sanford has two declared Democratic challengers in his bid for reelection in 2006. Florence Mayor Frank Willis and State Senator Tommy Moore have both said they will seek the Democratic nomination in 2006. South Carolina is a heavily Republican state. However, Sanford's constant battles and inability to pass even simple legislation seem to be taking a toll on his support. Recent polling puts his approval ratings in the low 50s or high 40s-- dangerous territory for an incumbent Republican governor of a Republican state. Recent polling suggesting that he barely stands at 52% against two as-yet unknown opponents is also a warning signal. His latest approval rating, according to Survey USA, is 47%[1].

In November of 2005, Time named Sanford one of the three worst governors in the country, citing a "thrift" that "has brought the state's economy to a standstill."

External links

• http://www.sanfordforgovernor.com
• http://www.scgovernor.com
• http://draftsanford.cjb.net
• http://www.republicanliberty.org/Sanford08
• http://www.scrgov.org/content.asp?catID=8090
• http://www.votesanford.com

Statements

• Open Session On The Western Hemisphere Today: A Roundtable Discussion, Hearing Before The Subcommittee On The Western Hemisphere Of The Committee On International Relations, House Of Representatives, One Hundred Fifth Congress, First Session, March 12, 1997

• The Caribbean: An Overview Hearing Before The Subcommittee On The Western Hemisphere Of The Committee On International Relations House Of Representatives One Hundred Fifth Congress First Session May 14, 1997

• The President's Foreign Assistance Budget Request For Fiscal Year 1999 Hearing Before The Committee On International Relations House Of Representatives One Hundred Fifth Congress Second Session March 5, 1998

• Latin America And The Caribbean: An Update And Summary Of The Summit Of The Americas Hearing Before The Subcommittee On The Western Hemisphere Of The Committee On International Relations House Of Representatives One Hundred Fifth Congress Second Session May 6, 1998

• Franchise Fee Calculations Of Fort Sumter Tours, Inc. Oversight Hearing Before The Subcommittee On National Parks And Public Lands Of The Committee On Resources House Of Representatives One Hundred Sixth Congress First Session July 1, 1999, Washington, Dc Serial No. 106–44

• Reform of the IMF and the World Bank: Hearing before the Joint Economic Committee Congress of the United States, 106th Congress, Second Session, April 12, 2000 Sanford's remarks begin on page 32. 1.1 MB PDF

• The Center For National Policy: Issues in U.S.-Cuba Policy, Washington D.C., November 2000 Sanford speaks in favor of lifting U.S. embargo of Cuba. 314 KB PDF

Campaign finance links

• Leading Campaign Contributors 1993-94 Mark Sanford, R-SC PDF

• Campaign Contributors 2004, Mark Sanford, Governor of SC

• Project Vote Smart: Governor Mark Sanford (2003-2005)

Congressional Records

• 106th Congress (1999-2000)
• 105th Congress (1997-1998)
• 104th Congress (1995-1996)

Template:Start box Template:Succession box Template:Incumbent succession box Template:End box Template:SCGovernors
Template:Current U.S. governorsfr:Mark Sanford