What's In Jenny Sanford's Future?

S.C. ponders Jenny Sanford's future



After spending years as a key player on her husband’s political team, South Carolina’s soon-to-be ex-First Lady Jenny Sanford now finds her own prospective political career the subject of considerable speculation.

With extensive connections, an impressive resume of her own, access to the state’s top fundraisers and a widespread belief that she played a central role in her husband’s political successes, Jenny Sanford has South Carolina political insiders wondering privately and in local political blogs whether a run for Congress—or even governor—is on the horizon.

Sanford announced Friday that she is divorcing Republican Gov. Mark Sanford, whose once-bright national political career was crippled by his admission of an extramarital affair.

While Jenny Sanford has avoided mention of any political ambitions of her own, her background suggests she’s well-equipped for a run for public office. After serving as her husband’s campaign manager both for his first run for Congress in 1994 and his initial run for governor in 2002, she emerged as a backroom powerbroker with ties to the state’s political elite.

And prior to her work on her husband’s campaigns, Sanford was an accomplished investment banker who became vice president of mergers and acquisitions at Lazard, the New York investment bank, by the age of 27.

“From my personal knowledge of her personal intellect and demeanor, I know that she is one of the most talented and smartest political operatives I have ever seen,” said Katon Dawson, the former chairman of the South Carolina GOP and longtime confidant of the Sanfords.

Indeed, some even credit Jenny Sanford with helping to save her embattled husband's job this summer. While she notably did not appear by his side at the press conference where he admitted to his infidelity—and quickly moved out of the governor’s mansion—when pressure for the governor to resign was at a fever pitch in July, it was she who reached out to state legislative leaders to quell the calls for his job.

And, in announcing the divorce, Sanford waited until impeachment threats against her soon to be ex-husband were effectively crushed.

Sanford has taken steps recently that could be helpful in the event she pursues elected office, including moves to build an individual brand outside of her husband or the First Lady’s office.



In November, she endorsed long-shot state Rep. Nikki Haley--a youthful Indian-American woman with a record of reform who has caught the eye of national party leaders—in the Republican gubernatorial primary and also set up her own personal website that essentially functions as a conduit to post press releases and updates from outside the ambit of the governor’s office.

In addition, Jenny Sanford is writing a memoir due out in the spring and recently sat down for an interview with ABC’s Barbara Walters after being selected as one of Walters’s “10 Most Fascinating People” of the year.

“Jenny is a woman of incredible intelligence, strength, and grace,” Haley told POLITICO. “She has been a political force in this state for years and will continue to be as long as she wants to.”

There are serious doubts, however, about whether Sanford has any intention at all of pursuing elected office.

Few of those who are close to Jenny Sanford, including the GOP politicians who live nearby on Sullivan’s Island—the exclusive small island community where she has been living since moving out of the governor’s mansion in August—responded to requests to speak about her political future.

And those who did speak to POLITICO stressed that while Sanford may cut an attractive profile as a candidate, she has not demonstrated the unbridled desire for the limelight or the affinity for retail politics necessary in a state where GOP primaries qualify as a blood sport.

“Before all this happened, she had been making a very conscious effort to pull back from public life,” said Joel Sawyer, the governor’s former communications director. “My sense is that she wants to get back to leading as normal a life as she can as soon as possible.”

“I guarantee you she will never run for anything,” Sawyer added. “Once the book is done she’s going to try to lead as normal a life as possible.”

Dawson said that if running for public office was something Sanford wanted to do “she could certainly win, but I think that’s the farthest thing there is from anything she wants to do.”

“She never really sought that kind of limelight or political ambition. It’s what her husband chose to do and she did it,” Dawson said. “Anyone who thinks Jenny Sanford wants to be in politics doesn’t know a thing about Jenny.”



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Sources: Politico, Google Maps