Darlington County lawmakers react to Sanford news

Two state lawmakers from Darlington County said whatever effectiveness Mark Sanford had as governor of South Carolina is gone after the governor’s revelation that he has been having an affair with a woman he visited on his recent secret visit to Argentina.

State Rep. Jay Lucas, R-Hartsville, described Sanford’s press conference Wednesday as “bizarre.” “That’s the only word that comes to mind,” he said.

And state Sen. Gerald Malloy, D-Hartsville, used that same word to characterize Sanford’s conduct leading up to his revelation.

“On the personal side, our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and family,” Malloy said. “At this point, I’m waiting to hear the rest of the story.”

“As I watched it, my first thoughts were with the first lady and the governor’s children,” Lucas said. “They’re really great kids, well mannered, very thoughtful, and you really don’t want to see them have to go through anything like this.”

Both men called the governor’s conduct an embarrassment to the state.

“My initial reaction is, here we go again with the state of South Carolina again the focus of the nation for something that is not good,” Malloy said.

“This is a time in our state when we need to be working on jobs for our unemployed, working on our economic development issues, providing a good education for our people, providing health care for all and keeping our citizens safe, and this diverts attention away from all of that,” Malloy said.

“There’s no question that it’s a black eye for our state, and we’re just going to have to try to recover as best we can,” Lucas said.

Lucas said Sanford has lost his effectiveness on those issues on which he has shown the most leadership.

“On the issues on which he has been most effective, restructuring for example, issues where he has shown some leadership, I think he has lost his effectiveness,” he said.

“As to whether he should resign, that’s something he’s going to have to decide. But I truly think he has lost his effectiveness on the issues where he’s been most effective.”

Malloy said Sanford was ineffective as governor before this episode and said a resignation now would make little difference. “My sense of his effectiveness as governor is one of failed leadership, an inability or unwillingness to compromise,” Malloy said.

“There was no leadership to begin with. He was not effective before he left, and he’s not effective after he’s come back. His status as governor is not of essence to this state,” Malloy said.

“He demonstrated that he could run against the Legislature and win. But the focus of the job should be on finding solutions to our problems,” he said. “This state is yearning for leadership.”

Malloy called Sanford’s mysterious disappearance irresponsible. “He put his staff, his family and other folks, the lieutenant governor in a bad position by leaving with them not knowing where he was,” he said.

“He was derelict in his responsibilities as governor. He left without telling anyone where he was going. That’s the thing we need to be responding to.”

State Reps. Robert Williams, D-Darlington, and Denny Neilson, D-Darlington, could not be reached for comment.