Governor says he’ll serve 4 years if re-elected

Gov. Mark Sanford “absolutely” will not run for president in 2008.

In a wide-ranging interview with The State newspaper in his State House office last week, Sanford said he would not be a candidate for president in the 2008 Republican primary.

Sanford will seek re-election as governor in 2006.

“Should I get re-elected,” Sanford said, “I absolutely am serving all four years, because we just have some huge issues here in South Carolina that are just an immense challenge.”

Sanford has said in the past that he was not planning to run for the White House, but he always had left the door cracked for a possible bid. His name has been mentioned by political observers handicapping the early, early race for the GOP nomination.

That will not happen, Sanford said, and he plans to be South Carolina’s governor until 2011, should he be sworn in again in January 2007.

“Barring stroke, illness, unforeseen personal circumstance that incapacitates me, yeah, I’m here for the duration,” Sanford said. “So, yeah, like it or not, people have to put up with me for another four years, should I cross that bridge.”

Sanford has amassed a $3.7 million campaign war chest to help with the re-election effort.

Recent polls have shown that state voters are still supportive of Sanford, but not at the same levels of a year or so ago.

He is expected to face Prosperity physician Oscar Lovelace in the GOP primary and one of two Democrats — Sen. Tommy Moore of Clearwater or Florence Mayor Frank Willis — in the general election.

In the interview with The State, Sanford also touched on his goals for the 2006 legislative session, the status of his sometimes tumultuous relationship with the General Assembly, and why voters should return him for a second term.

He said his priorities for the legislative session include:

• Changing the state’s workers’ compensation insurance system

• Tax reform

• Making it easier to start charter schools

On job creation and the state’s 6.9 percent unemployment rate — third highest in the nation — Sanford said his administration has worked to “better the soil conditions” for economic growth in South Carolina.

He has done that, he said, by focusing on small businesses, reorganizing the Department of Commerce and advocating for changes in how lawsuits affect business.

But Sanford also criticized his detractors in the Legislature who criticize him for the state’s high unemployment rate, but then block his initiatives aimed at improving the economy.

“There’s a certain irony in that,” Sanford said.

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