http://66.225.205.104/062509-JRSAN.mp3
South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has had a high profile during the last six months with his public battle against federal stimulus funding and rumors that he might run for President in 2012. But interest in Sanford reached a frenzy this week when news broke that he mysteriously disappeared last Thursday and no one knew how to reach him. His staff initially said he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail. But when Sanford finally surfaced yesterday he said he'd been in Argentina. Then, at an emotional news conference at the state capitol in Columbia, Sanford admitted he'd been having an affair. WFAE's Julie Rose reports. The phones rang off the hook yesterday at Governor Sanford's office. The receptionist said the calls were normal but seconds later she got one that sounded suspiciously like someone asking where the Governor was. Sanford's disappearance puzzled his allies who admit he can be eccentric at times. Even his harshest critics in the state legislature seemed surprised when the Governor stood before an enormous crowd of reporters and said: "I've been unfaithful to my wife," said Sanford. "I developed a relationship with a - what started as a - dear, dear friend." Sanford spent a few minutes warming up to his bombshell with a long list of apologies to his wife, his children and his staff whom he says he misled by dropping hints that he was going hiking. "I let them down by creating a fiction with regard to where I was going," says Sanford. "Which means I then, in turn, given as much as they relied on that information, let down people I represent across this state." Sanford says he met the woman eight years ago and initially carried on a casual friendship by email. But it developed into something more last year. And he said his wife, Jenny, has known about the affair for several months. She released a statement saying she asked the governor for a trial separation two weeks ago. "I've let down a lot of people," said Sanford. "That's the bottom line. And in every instance I would ask their forgiveness. Forgiveness is not an immediate process. IT's a process that takes time and I will be in that process for quite some weeks and months and years ahead." Sanford says he will resign as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, but did not respond when asked if he would resign as Governor of South Carolina. Democratic State Representative Todd Rutherford came to the press conference expecting to hear the Governor's spin. "This is the last thing that I expected," said Representative Rutherford. "For him to come and admity it today was shocking. I think most of us were stunned. But I'm a little shock that he's not going to resign as Governor. I think the embarrassment he's caused the state and his family and his kids on father's day is enough. Why keep going? Why keep letting this be a story? He should have resigned immediately." But Republican Senator Jake Knotts - who is one of the Governor's most vocal critics - softened his tone after Sanford admitted the affair. "I saw a Governor that didn't look out to find a scapegoat," said Senator Knotts. "He owned up to his own problems, he asked for forgiveness. He asked for that and I accept that and I forgive him. I mean I want to do anything I can to help him." Governor Sanford says he'll spend the next several months trying to reconcile with his wife and offering personal apologies to the people of South Carolina.