Mark Sanford raises $330K for House race

Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) has raised more than $330,000 since he began his campaign for Congress, his campaign announced Friday morning.

Sanford has $365,000 on hand for the campaign's key stretch, and has spent slightly more than $90,000 so far, most of it on outreach rather than internal operations.

The haul isn't as important for Sanford as the other candidates in the race — his name recognition couldn't get much higher in the state. He's always run low-budget campaigns, and most people have strong opinions one way or the other about the fiscally conservative former governor, whose personal life was engulfed in controversy after he revealed an affair in 2009 with an Argentine woman.

But the fairly strong fundraising haul shows he still has some support and can raise money — and will be able to match his opponents in the final weeks of the campaign. 

Self-funding former South Carolina state Sen. John Kuhn (R) loaned himself $500,000 and could go higher. State Sen. Larry Grooms (R) raised more than $200,000 from the beginning of January through mid-February and has that much left in the bank. State Rep. Chip Limehouse (R) loaned his campaign $400,000, on top of $100,000 in dollars raised.

High-school teacher Teddy Turner, the son of media mogul Ted Turner, hasn't announced his fundraising numbers yet, though he has been running television ads, a sign he has some real money for the campaign.

The GOP primary is on March 19, with the expected runoff between Sanford and one of the other Republicans in the race to be held on April 2. 

The general election in the GOP-leaning district will be held on May 7, leaving little time for the Republican nominee to raise funds after the primary is decided.

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