Two of Gov. Mark Sanford’s top aides have been named interim co-chiefs of staff as the governor continues to search for a successor to Fred Carter.

Senior policy adviser Tom Davis and chief legal counsel Henry White will head the governor’s team.

Carter’s last day as chief of staff is Wednesday. After the Thanksgiving holidays, Carter, 53, will return to the presidency of Francis Marion University, a job from which he took a leave of absence for a year to work for Sanford.

Also, first lady Jenny Sanford, communications director Chris Drummond and Carter will serve on a newly formed advisory council that will counsel the governor on specific policy and strategy issues.

“Fred Carter isn’t someone you just up and replace,” Sanford said. “His combination of institutional knowledge, management savvy and interpersonal relationship ability has set the bar for this role fairly high.”

Keeping Carter on the advisory council allows Sanford to retain his experience in dealing with the Legislature close at hand.

Carter was a top aide in former Gov. Carroll Campbell’s administration and a former director of the State Budget and Control Board.

Jenny Sanford said there is no specific date for naming a permanent chief of staff.

“We’re waiting to find the right person,” she said. “We need to look at who is the right person, and now what date do we need to have somebody here.”

There are “a couple of folks I’m looking at,” the governor said, “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.”

Davis, 43, will handle legislative and policy issues; White, 41, will oversee the administration and Cabinet.

“I’ve known Mark since college,” Davis said. “I’ve worked on his campaigns both for Congress and for governor, and I’ve gotten a real sense from those experiences of the changes he’s trying to bring to the political process here in South Carolina.”

Sanford has always pushed a “team approach,” White said.

“The staff here in the office relies on each other daily to move the ball forward on any number of issues,” White said. “I don’t see this interim arrangement as changing that in the least.”

Drummond said the staff has been working under this structure for at least a week in an attempt to identify problems.

“For all practical purposes we’ve been doing this,” he said.

Reach Gould Sheinin at (803) 771-8658 or asheinin@thestate.com.