April 17, 2013 12:09 PM UTC

BREAKING: Sanford Craters, Door Open for Colbert in South Carolina

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• by: Colorado Pols

You might remember former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, a one-time rising Republican star whose political career seemingly ended in 2009 when he got lost in Argentina via the Appalachian Trail and ended up in a mess of a scandal. Sanford re-emerged this year in an attempt to run for Congress, and things seemed to be going fairly well when he won a run-off election in a Republican Primary ahead of a May 7 special election in South Carolina's CD-1. And then…Sanford imploded. Again.

As Politico reports, Republicans are dropping support for Sanford after new allegations that his ex-wife accused him of trespassing:

National Republicans are pulling the plug on Mark Sanford’s suddenly besieged congressional campaign, POLITICO has learned — a potentially fatal blow to the former South Carolina governor’s dramatic comeback bid. Blindsided by news that Sanford’s ex-wife has accused him of trespassing and concluding he has no plausible path to victory, the National Republican Congressional Committee has decided not to spend more money on Sanford’s behalf ahead of the May 7 special election…

…The NRCC’s move comes hours after Tuesday night’s report by the Associated Press that Sanford’s ex-wife, Jenny Sanford, filed a court complaint accusing him of trespassing at her home in early February – which would be a violation of the terms of their divorce agreement.

Republicans said they were caught off guard by news of Jenny Sanford’s complaint. They worry other damaging revelations about Mark Sanford’s personal life that they aren’t aware of could come out in the coming weeks. The NRCC has spent a nominal amount on the race on polling and other activities. But officials determined that devoting potentially millions more — which was under discussion — isn’t worth it.

“This is an unfortunate situation but this is what happens when candidates aren’t honest and withhold information,” said one GOP operative.

The news means that Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, a Clemson University administrator (and more famously, the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert) likely has a clear path to winning the open seat on May 7.

Who would ever have guessed that this might not have turned out well for Mark Sanford?