Ex-South Carolina Gov. Sanford to announce run for Congress

Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford plans to announce Wednesday he is running for his old congressional seat.

His spokesman Joel Sawyer confirmed the announcement to the Associated Press. Sanford said last month that reports were accurate that he was planning a political comeback nearly four years after an affair with an Argentine woman was exposed.

His old 1st District seat is open.

Sanford was a rising Republican political star before he vanished from South Carolina for five days in 2009 to visit his mistress in Argentina. Reporters and others were told he was hiking the Appalachian Trail.

He called Maria Belen Chapur his "soul mate" and the couple got engaged over the summer.

The international affair ended his marriage to Jenny Sanford.  She said Monday she would not seek the 1st District seat.