They just can’t stay away, and the shamelessness speaks volumes about the cynical regard some modern politicians have for American voters. Two once-prominent elected officials who saw their careers collapse in scandal are on the comeback trail for 2026.
This is a bipartisan tale. Let’s start on the red side. Sex scandals have been a part of elective politics for time immemorial and always will be, given the reality of human nature. But when they are accompanied by irresponsible behavior that puts basic job performance at risk, two words usually spring to mind: career over.
Such would seem to have been the case for South Carolina Republican Gov. Mark Sanford in 2009. His disgrace was so embarrassing that it earned its own tagline. “Hiking the Appalachian Trail” is to Palmetto State politics what O.J. Simpson’s “finding the real killers” was to the criminal justice system in the 1990s.
Leaving the Country to Be With Your Lover
“Republican Gov. Mark Sanford said he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. But for six days in June 2009, no one – not even family and staff members – really knew where he was,” The State newspaper explained in a 2019 article commemorating the ten-year anniversary of the debacle.
“Sanford finally resurfaced on June 24. And, acting on a tip that The State newspaper had received, political reporter Gina Smith was at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport waiting for Sanford when he got off a flight from Buenos Aires.”
He had gone where?
“Sanford told Smith that he had been in Argentina. And, at a televised news conference later that day, he admitted an extramarital affair,” the paper related. “He had spent five days in Argentina visiting his lover, Maria Belen Chapur. A little more than a month later, former first lady Jenny Sanford moved out of the Governor’s Mansion with their sons, and the couple’s divorce played out in the media.”
Despite abandoning his post as governor to conduct an adulterous affair with a woman a continent away, Sanford survived calls for his resignation and threats of impeachment to serve out the rest of his term through 2010. He was then able to capture the US House seat vacated by Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC). After winning a special election in 2013, due mostly to name recognition in a rushed race, Sanford leveraged incumbency to retain his seat for two more two-year terms.
But in 2018, President Donald Trump, irked by Sanford’s lack of support for his agenda, endorsed primary challenger Katie Arrington, and Sanford was toast.
Now, eyeing 2026, he wants back in.
“Sanford is considering three paths to political redemption – a run for his old House seat, a campaign for the governor's mansion he once occupied or a primary bid against Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham [R-SC],” Axios reported Feb. 13.
He’s even got a big-time professional insider to help guide his path. Sanford “met earlier this week with Republican strategist Jeff Roe to discuss his options, according to a person familiar with the matter,” the news site detailed.
“Sanford is a politician in search of an office,” Axios correctly observed. Knife, meet friendly back? Potential Senate primary opponent “Graham expressed his support for Sanford after the then-governor admitted to having an extramarital affair with an Argentine woman,” the media outlet added.
Oh, and then there’s this: “Graham is a godfather to one of Sanford's sons.”
Looking for a blue version of this tale? Let’s head out to Chicago, once the fiefdom of 1984 Democrat presidential candidate Jesse Jackson, who passed away Feb. 16 at the age of 84.
Jackson Dynasty Comeback in the Works?
Jackson traded on his association with black civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. to found a political empire in the Windy City. And his son, Jesse Jr., grew up a child of privilege.
Jackson the Younger was elected to the US House in 1995, capturing the seat held by Rep. Mel Reynolds, who had been convicted of statutory rape, bank fraud, and misusing campaign funds. Jackson relied heavily on his father’s weighty sway to secure the Democratic nomination for the special election held to replace Reynolds after he resigned from Congress on Sept. 1, 1995.
But things came to a sudden halt in February 2013 when Jesse Jr. became embroiled in a financial scandal.
Jackson pleaded guilty in federal court “to one felony fraud count in connection with his use of $750,000 in campaign money to pay for living expenses and buy items like stuffed animals, elk heads and fur capes,” The New York Times reported at the time.
“For years I lived off my campaign,” Jackson, then 47 years old, told the court. “I used money I shouldn’t have used for personal purposes.” He was sentenced to 46-57 months in prison.
And that should have been the end of another discredited political career. Yet here we are today, and Jesse Jackson Jr. is rested and ready for a big return in 2026.
The Political Class of 2026
“As Jesse Jackson Jr. campaigns for his old US House seat at Chicago-area churches, banquet halls and on black radio shows, he often takes a moment to address the obvious matter hanging over his political comeback,” a Feb. 5 Associated Press report began.
“It’s now part of my story,” Jackson told an audience of “pastors, elected officials and retirees gathered on a recent Saturday to hear his lofty plan to revive Chicago’s sagging south suburbs,” the wire service continued. “I’ve cried enough. I’m divorced now. I’ve lost my home in foreclosure. I’ve been through everything that comes with that process.”
