Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford on Tuesday cleared another hurdle in his bid for a political comeback, defeating a former county council member to win the GOP nomination for a vacant U.S. House seat. 
 
 Former Charleston County Councilman Curtis Bostic and his wife, Jenny, greet voters at a polling place in Charleston, S.C., on Tuesday, April 2, 1013. Bostic faced former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford... (Associated Press) 
 
 Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford signs in before voting in Charleston, S.C., on Tuesday, April 2, 2013. Sanford is facing former Charleston County councilman Curtis Bostic in the Republican runoff... (Associated Press) 
 
 Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford leaves the voting booth after voting at his precinct in Charleston, S.C., on Tuesday, April 2, 2013. Sanford is facing former Charleston County councilman Curtis... (Associated Press) 
 
 Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford answers questions from reporters after voting in Charleston, S.C., on Tuesday, April 2, 2013. Sanford is facing former Charleston County councilman Curtis Bostic... (Associated Press) 
 
 With 96 percent of precincts reporting, Sanford had about 57 percent of the vote to 43 percent for Curtis Bostic, a former Charleston County Council member. The candidates were vying Tuesday in a GOP runoff in the 1st Congressional District, which covers the south coast. 
 
 Sanford will face Elizabeth Colbert Busch and Green Party candidate Eugene Platt in a May special election. She is the sister of political satirist Stephen Colbert. 
 
 The former three-term congressman and two-term governor saw his political career sidelined four years ago when he disappeared from the state only to return and confess to an extramarital affair with an Argentine woman to whom he is now engaged. 
 
 Earlier Tuesday, Sanford said that results from the primary would give a good indication whether voters have moved past his personal indiscretions. 
 
 "I think tonight's verdict will say a lot as to where people are or are not on that," Sanford said after voting in his downtown Charleston precinct. "I suppose at some level, I will never completely move beyond that." 
 
 Tuesday's win comes two weeks after Sanford led a 16-candidate field in a GOP primary for his old congressional seat. This is Sanford's first campaign since he revealed the affair. 
 
 Bostic collected only about 13 percent of the vote in the primary voting two weeks ago, narrowly defeating state Sen. Larry Grooms for second place. Although Bostic had little time to overcome Sanford's high name recognition, Bostic said he liked his chances as he visited with voters in a suburban Charleston precinct before the polls closed. 
 
 "People dismiss us," the attorney and retired Marine said. "But we believe strongly the best way to win elections is through relationships and we have worked really hard to do that." 
 
 Bostic himself did not vote in the GOP runoff on Tuesday because he can't. 
 
 His residence near Ravenel, S.C., is in the 6th Congressional District, represented by U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, about 1,500 yards from the 1st District line. Bostic's law office, other property, church and children's schools are in the district. Under federal law, to run for the U.S. House, one only need to be a resident of the state in which the district is located, not the district itself. 
 
 Sanford said he would be out campaigning and meeting voters until the polls closed, despite his apparent lead after the primary voting. 
 
 "There's no such thing as `well ahead' in the world of politics," he said. 

 Former Gov. Mark Sanford has won in the GOP runoff election for a vacant South Carolina congressional seat, the latest test of his bid to resuscitate his political career. 
 
 With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Sanford led his underdog opponent, former Charleston County Councilman Curtis Bostic, 57 percent to 43 percent, according to The Associated Press. Sanford will face Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, a Clemson University administrator and the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert, in the May 7 general election. 
 
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 reset POLITICO reports on S.C. race 
 
 The race will surely become a national spectacle and draw attention from both national parties. Sanford, who four years ago lied about and then admitted to having an affair with an Argentine woman, has barnstormed the Lowcountry-based 1st Congressional District, billing himself as a figure of repentance and redemption and saying he has learned from his mistakes. 
 
 (Full results: 1st District runoff) 
 
 The two wasted no time drawing the battle lines for the next six weeks. Sanford called it an ideological clash between someone who will fight for less government spending and lower taxes vs. a pro-union liberal who supports Obamacare. 
 
 “My record is one of cutting debt, eliminating deficits, reducing taxes, and working to make sure business are more competitive,” Sanford said in a statement. “On the other side, we have more of the same of what has gotten our country into the mess that it’s in — a belief in government and government spending on things like the stimulus are a cure to all ills, an allegiance to unions that should be truly disconcerting to places like Boeing and a whole lot of other businesses out there, and a belief that the government approach to healthcare represented by things like Obamacare is the right direction for our nation.” 
 
 (PHOTOS: Mark Sanford’s career) 
 
 Colbert Busch countered that the race is about whom voters can trust. 
 
 “As a businesswoman,” she said in a statement, “I will use my experience to cut waste in Washington, lower tax rates so small businesses can create jobs and do the people of South Carolina proud as their representative.” 
 
 A Colbert Busch spokesman added: “Mark Sanford simply has the wrong values for our community — whether that’s his terms as Governor or the last time he was in Congress, where he opposed commonsense measures like the Violence Against Women Act.” 
 
 Sanford’s Argentine fiancée, María Belén Chapur, who had been his mistress, appeared behind him while the ex-governor delivered remarks at his victory party on Tuesday night.
– Well, this could be fun. Mark Sanford has easily won the Republican runoff for a congressional seat in South Carolina, reports AP. Which means, of course, that the former governor and congressman will face Elizabeth Colbert Busch, sister of Stephen Colbert, in the general election five weeks from now. Sanford is trying to resurrect his political career after his Appalachian Trail/adultery debacle from a few years back. Colbert Busch is a political novice, but her celeb brother is campaigning for her and helping her raise money. Politico sees her as the underdog, however, considering that Mitt Romney easily carried the district in November.