Trump Criticism Sinks Mark Sanford In South Carolina Primary

Rep. Mark Sanford lost his bid for re-election in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District on Tuesday night, handing a Republican primary victory to state Rep. Katie Arrington.

Arrington had attacked Sanford, a strident conservative and member of the House Freedom Caucus, for his frequent criticisms of the president. Trump himself tried to deliver a finishing blow with a Tuesday afternoon tweet dismissing Sanford as “unhelpful” and reminding voters of a past scandal involving the then-South Carolina governor and his then-girlfriend from Argentina.

Trump also explained his rationale for weighing in early Wednesday:

Trump’s endorsement of Arrington came just three hours before the polls closed, so it’s not clear if that tweet really moved voters much. But Sanford’s defeat still is something of a political victory for the president and shows his popularity with the Republican base. Trump’s approval with Republican primary voters has been enough to drive other intra-GOP Trump antagonists, like Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, into retirement.

Sanford is in his second stint representing the 1st District, which includes the Lowcountry and the city of Charleston. He’d earlier held the seat from 1995 to 2001; he won it again in a 2013 special election. (In between, he served two terms as governor.)

Arrington defeated Sanford by focusing on his record of critiquing the president. He’s called for Trump to release his tax returns, described the president’s use of violent rhetoric as a “problem” and called his alleged affair with Stormy Daniels “deeply troubling.”