Former South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford says she will not run for an open congressional seat. 
 
 Sanford told reporters Monday in Charleston that her job as a mother is more rewarding and important than going to Congress. 
 
 Sanford had said earlier she would look at running for the seat, which was left vacant when Gov. Nikki Haley appointed former congressman Tim Scott to an empty U.S. Senate seat. That Senate seat was left empty when Jim DeMint resigned. 
 
 Had she run, it likely would have set up a race between her and her ex-husband, former Gov. Mark Sanford. The former governor has not officially announced he is running, but he has campaign money and was looking for office space in Charleston last week. 
 
 Mark Sanford held the open 1st District seat before becoming governor in 2003. 

 Political junkies hoping for a Sanford vs. Sanford showdown in South Carolina had their hopes dashed Monday when Jenny Sanford said she’s not running for a vacant House seat. 
 
 The announcement means former Gov. Mark Sanford won’t battle his ex-wife in a special election for the seat of former congressman and newly sworn-in Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.). The House seat opened when Scott was appointed to succeed former Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, who resigned for a top job at The Heritage Foundation. 
 
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 Jenny Sanford’s popularity grew after the 2009 drama surrounding her husband’s days-long disappearance and subsequent news that he was in Argentina having an extramarital affair with a local woman he had met years earlier. 
 
 Sanford had been mentioned as a possible appointee to the Senate seat, and she later indicated she was looking at a bid for Scott’s seat. 
 
 But she told The Associated Press on Monday that she enjoyed motherhood too much to devote herself to a run for public office. Sanford is a Georgetown-educated former investment banker who served as a top political aide to Mark Sanford but has no experience in elected office. According to her personal website, she now “works part-time in consulting and investment management while continuing to focus on her greatest legacy, her four sons.” 
 
 Mark Sanford is widely believed to be running. Several news outlets have reported as much, most recently The Weekly Standard, which cited “sources close to Sanford” in a Friday report on the former governor’s intentions. Sanford also confirmed to the AP in late December that he is eyeing a campaign. 
 
 If he follows through, Sanford would be attempting an unlikely political comeback, running to recapture the same congressional seat — South Carolina’s 1st District — he held from 1995 through 2000. When he left office in 2011 after two terms as governor, Sanford was the subject of national ridicule and his political career was assumed over: He had been censured by the state Legislature over state travel expenses used to facilitate visits to Argentina. 
 
 Primaries for the House seat are scheduled for March 19; if no candidate receives 50 percent, runoffs will occur on April 2. The general election is scheduled for May 7. 
 
 Candidates can officially file to run starting on Friday. Other potential candidates, reported the AP, include state Sen. Larry Grooms and former state House Majority Leader James Merrill.
– There will be no dramatic contest between Jenny Sanford and her ex-husband, onetime South Carolina governor and no-time Appalachian Trail hiker Mark Sanford, when it comes to Tim Scott's open House seat. Mark Sanford is expected to run for the seat in a special election, and while some had hoped scorned ex-wife Jenny would run against him, Politico reports that she announced yesterday she will not. She enjoys being a mother and thinks that's a more important job, she told reporters, according to the AP. Jenny Sanford had earlier signaled an interest in running. Meanwhile, Mark has not yet made a formal announcement, but was on a search for office space in Charleston last week and has campaign funds. Numerous outlets have reported that an announcement is imminent. Candidates can file as soon as Friday, with primaries scheduled for March 19 and the general election May 7. If Mark Sanford wins, he'll be back in the same congressional seat he held from 1995 to 2000.