Critics question Sanford's funds

Associated Press

COLUMBIA— Gov. Mark Sanford says he's not running for president, but his fund raising is bringing up questions from political insiders.

Sanford has raised more than $3.5 million toward his 2006 re-election campaign. More than 40 percent of his money this year has come from out of state. And a large portion of the money has come from investment bankers.

The donations have raised criticisms and helped fuel speculation that the governor is considering a future run for the White House.

"Wall Street people are noted for making early investments, whether for companies or for politicians," said University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato.

Sanford said people who give him money thinking they are helping a future presidential candidate are "idiots."

Rice University political scientist Earl Black, an expert in both national and Southern politics, said many wealthy donors want to help out rising political stars.

"Within both parties, there are a lot of people who are looking for cues as to people who are viewed as on the rise in one capacity or another," Black said. "It's unlikely that many of these contributors know the governor personally. More likely, they're getting a cue from somebody."

Yet Sanford said many of his contributors are friends. One donor, Richard Chilton of Connecticut, owns several hundred acres of land in Beaufort County, where Sanford's family owns a plantation.

Chilton, his family, companies and employees gave Sanford more than $30,000 from January through July. They also donated to Sanford when he was in the U.S. House.

Sanford said much of the money from New York comes from people he knew through his work there. He and his wife, Jenny, both worked on Wall Street. Sanford also got his master of business administration degree from the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business — noted for its network of alumni.

Despite his denials, some political observers say Sanford hasn't closed the door to running for the White House. They note that during last year's Republican National Convention in New York, Sanford met privately with top Republican donors. His State of the State address in January had an emphasis on foreign affairs. Plus, he co-wrote, with former Democratic New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, a recent column on foreign affairs that appeared in an English-language newspaper in Lebanon.

Sanford rejects the notion that donors are backing him because of the potential for making money in the state.

But Frank Willis, the mayor of Florence and a Democratic gubernatorial hopeful, questions why Sanford would be bringing in so many out-of-state dollars — much from a special interest group.

"These investment bankers, they're looking for something," said Willis. He suspects Santee Cooper, the state-owned electric utility, might be at issue.

In 2004, Sanford's office offered four investment banks the opportunity to report on whether the state was getting a big enough financial return from Santee Cooper. The original request for the report asked for a study to examine the feasibility of privatizing the utility.

Selling Santee Cooper would require investment bankers who would earn millions of dollars for brokering the deal. A former Santee Cooper director said the utility has nearly $5 billion in assets and is the state's largest single asset.

Sanford has said he is not trying to privatize Santee Cooper.

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Information from: The State, http://www.thestate.com/

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