COLUMBIA, S.C. - A campaign donation has put the first lady in a spat with a Charleston senator.

State Sen. John Kuhn, R-Charleston, approached Jenny Sanford outside the governors office recently to ask why she had given money to the campaign of his GOP rival for his seat Chip Campsen.

Campsen, a former member of the South Carolina House, also worked for Gov. Mark Sanford and is a longtime friend.

Kuhn said he went to the governor's office to ask Jenny Sanford to quit helping Campsen. Kuhn said he also asked her, rhetorically, if she would contribute to his campaign.

Jenny Sanford said she could support - and vote for - whomever she wanted.

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

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

But, Kuhn says Jenny Sanford lost her cool.

"If anybody yelled at anybody, it was the first lady," he said. "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," he said.

The governor 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.

But, Folks said, Mrs. Sanford's support of Campsen should not be seen as an endorsement by the governor, who does not endorse candidates in the primary, as a matter of personal philosophy.

That doesn't mean, however, that Campsen isn't using their friendship in his campaign. A recent television ad for the Campsen campaign shows Gov. Sanford and Campsen standing side by side.

"John may be upset, but he's really upset at a historical fact," Campsen said. "The fact is he has not been supportive of the governor's agenda."

Other senators said they didn't like the idea of a Sanford family member supporting a sitting lawmaker's opposition.

"I don't think that's fair," said Sen. Robert Ford, D-Charleston. "Those three guys can fight it out on their own, and whoever wins, wins. That situation just divides the Republican Party. Which is good for me, really."

Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, said the first lady has a right to support whomever she wants. Former Gov. Carroll Campbell, a Republican, once supported another GOP candidate against McConnell, who had opposed Campbell's government restructuring program.

"The similarity is a little eerie isn't it?" McConnell said.

For his part, the third GOP candidate Henry Fishburne is staying out of the fray.

"I understood from the beginning of this race that the governor and Chip are friends and that John Kuhn is the incumbent Sen.," he said. "That's what their ads seem to be emphasizing, while our ads are addressing the issues: improving education, lowering property taxes and relieving traffic congestion and sprawl."

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Information from: The Post and Courier, http://www.charleston.net/