Sanford staff will be led by two as chief departs



COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Gov. Mark Sanford tapped a top campaign adviser and his general counsel to oversee his office on an interim basis as Fred Carter steps down as chief of staff.

Tom Davis worked on Sanford's campaign last year and joined the governor's staff in August as a senior policy adviser. Davis has known Sanford since college and worked on his U.S. House campaigns. Henry White is Sanford's chief legal counsel, a position he's held since just after Sanford's inauguration in January.

Sanford has previously said he'd use a team approach as he continues searching for a new chief of staff.

Carter served in the administration's top job all year, but always intended to return to his job as president of Francis Marion University. Carter took no pay for his duties, but continued to receive his annual $136,000 college salary.

Sanford said in a statement that he continues to search for a new chief, but he's not going to fill the job "just to say it's been filled." He says there are "a couple of folks I'm looking at as we continue to narrow the search for this position, but, in the short-term, I've got a tremendous amount of confidence in Tom and Henry to fill that gap until we name a full-time chief of staff."

Sanford has said the job's demands and pay have been issues for some people courted for chief of staff.

"It's been a very, very tough position to fill," Sanford told The Associated Press earlier this month.


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