It's now safe to say that Mark Sanford is on an island. Earlier today, 60 of the 73 Republicans in the state house called for the governor to resign.
At a meeting last month in Myrtle Beach, no House GOP member spoke in Sanford's defense. Republicans control the House.
"The direction of the caucus leaving that meeting was unmistakable," Deputy Majority Leader Bruce Bannister, R-Greenville, said in a written statement. "Governor you have lost the support of legislators who have supported you through thick and thin."
The letter comes on the heels of House Speaker Bobby Harrell's call for Sanford to resign a day earlier. Both letters strike a similar vein--Sanford's personal life has become too much of a distraction.
The conventional wisdom is that the only reason Sanford still has a job is that a lot of Repubs aren't willing to give the governorship to Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer, a guy who has some issues of his own (his promise not to run for governor if he's elevated to the governorship notwithstanding). However, if this letter is any indication, apparently a good number of Sanford's own party believes they'd rather have Bauer as governor than endure the constant drip drip drip about Sanford's foibles.
Your admitted actions and the facts surrounding the allegations against you -- which are currently being investigated by the State Ethics Commission -- reveal a pattern of poor decision making and questionable leadership. But perhaps more disappointing and disturbing than the abandonment of your post and the multiple ethics allegations against you is the extreme amount of stress, uncertainty and negative scrutiny that the citizens of South Carolina, our government and our party have had to endure due to your behavior.
According to WIS in Columbia, a 61st member associated himself with the letter after it was sent to Sanford. State House minority leader Harry Ott says his caucus will discuss the governor next month, but one of his colleagues says that there are definitely 83 votes to impeach Sanford. It takes 83 votes--two-thirds of the House--to impeach.