Sen. John Kuhn, R-Charleston, approached first lady Jenny Sanford outside the governor’s office recently to ask why she had given money to the campaign of Chip Campsen, Kuhn’s GOP primary challenger and a longtime friend and former aide to Gov. Mark Sanford. Here’s an account of the squabble that transpired:

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• He said ...

... he went to the governor’s office to ask the first lady to stop helping Campsen.

• She said...

... she could support — and vote for — whomever she wanted.

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The confrontation then became heated, with each side blaming the other.

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• He said ...

“If anybody yelled at anybody, it was the first lady. If anybody was unprofessional, it was her. She really blew her top. The staff had to usher her out of the hallway because according to them, they ‘didn’t want the press to see Jenny that way.’ She’s got an unbelievable temper.”

• She said ...

“He raised his voice to the first lady and generally conducted himself in a manner she found unprofessional and, frankly, insulting,” said Sanford spokesman Will Folks.

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The skinny

• Gov. Sanford and Kuhn have had their problems in the past, with the outspoken Charleston senator taking much of the blame for the death of the governor’s restructuring proposal in a Senate committee.

• And while Folks insists Jenny Sanford’s support of Campsen should not be seen as an endorsement by the governor, Mark Sanford does appear in a recent television ad for the Campsen campaign.

• Some of Kuhn’s Senate colleagues said they didn’t like the idea of a Sanford family member supporting a sitting lawmaker’s opposition.

The Associated Press