Trump Criticism Sinks Mark Sanford In South Carolina Primary

Rep. Mark Sanford lost his bid for re-election in South Carolinas 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.

Mark Sanford has been very unhelpful to me in my campaign to MAGA. He is MIA and nothing but trouble. He is better off in Argentina. I fully endorse Katie Arrington for Congress in SC, a state I love. She is tough on crime and will continue our fight to lower taxes. VOTE Katie!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 12, 2018

Trump also explained his rationale for weighing in early Wednesday:

My political representatives didnt want me to get involved in the Mark Sanford primary thinking that Sanford would easily win - but with a few hours left I felt that Katie was such a good candidate, and Sanford was so bad, I had to give it a shot. Congrats to Katie Arrington!

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My political representatives didnt want me to get involved in the Mark Sanford primary thinking that Sanford would easily win - but with a few hours left I felt that Katie was such a good candidate, and Sanford was so bad, I had to give it a shot. Congrats to Katie Arrington!
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2018

Trumps endorsement of Arrington came just three hours before the polls closed, so its not clear if that tweet really moved voters much. But Sanfords defeat still is something of a political victory for the president and shows his popularity with the Republican base. Trumps 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. Hed 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.)