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(CNN) – Jenny Sanford, the wife of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, said Friday she is filing for divorce.

She said in a statement that "the dissolution of any marriage is a sad and painful process."

"This came after many unsuccessful efforts at reconciliation, yet I am still dedicated to keeping the process that lies ahead peaceful for our family," the statement said.

The Sanfords have lived apart since June, when the governor admitted to an extramarital affair with an Argentine woman.

The governor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the divorce filing.

(Updated with additional information and Gov. Sanford's reaction after the jump)

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(CNN) – In a letter released Wednesday, Jenny Sanford, the wife of embattled South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, said she and her family are persevering after a difficult year in which her husband admitted to an extramarital affair. And South Carolina's first lady endorsed Republican Nikki Haley's candidacy to be the state's next governor.

Haley, a South Carolina legislator and an ally of Gov. Sanford, is one of five Republicans who have formally announced bids to replace Jenny Sanford's husband.

In the letter to Haley's supporters, Sanford praised her husband's tenure as governor.

"I'm proud of the work Mark and his Administration have done over almost seven years now, trying very hard to move the ball forward on [growing the economy, improving public schools, and reforming government]."

Sanford also praises Haley as "principled, conservative, tough, and smart."

"So when I'm asked my wish for South Carolina's future, my wish is for a leader of state government like Nikki Haley," Sanford writes.

"And there's one other thing," Sanford writes before broaching the subject of her family's challenges in the last year.

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(CNN) – South Carolina First Lady Jenny Sanford will make her first public appearance on Saturday since separating from her scandal-plagued husband and moving out of the governor's mansion in August.

An aide to the First Lady announced Thursday that Sanford will participate in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, a Charleston-area 5K run/walk to benefit breast cancer research.

The first lady has kept a low profile since her husband, Gov. Mark Sanford, revealed an extramarital affair in June. She gave an interview to the Associated Press shortly after the affair and was the subject of a glowing profile in Vogue Magazine last month, but has been otherwise silent. Sanford is also writing a memoir, set to be published in May 2010.

(CNN) – South Carolina First Lady Jenny Sanford will make her first public appearance on Saturday since separating from her scandal-plagued husband and moving out of the governor's mansion in August.

An aide to the First Lady announced Thursday that Sanford will participate in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, a Charleston-area 5K run/walk to benefit breast cancer research.

The first lady has kept a low profile since her husband, Gov. Mark Sanford, revealed an extramarital affair in June. She gave an interview to the Associated Press shortly after the affair and was the subject of a glowing profile in Vogue Magazine last month, but has been otherwise silent. Sanford is also writing a memoir, set to be published in May 2010.

(CNN) – Jenny Sanford, the estranged wife of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, is writing a book.

Sanford has sold the rights to her "inspirational memoir" to Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, the publisher told CNN Tuesday. The memoir is slated for release in May 2010.

Ballantine did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. Aside from a flattering interview with Vogue magazine, Sanford has remained mostly silent since June, when her husband publicly revealed an affair with an Argentine woman. In July, she and the couple's four boys moved out of the governor's mansion.

Gov. Sanford also had a deal to write a book about fiscal conservatism before the scandal short-circuited his political career. Sentinel Publishing was planning to publish "Within Our Means" in March 2010, but the company released Sanford from the deal in July, calling it "a mutual decision."

(CNN) – For the first time in nearly two months, Jenny Sanford is opening up about the affair that turned her life upside down.

"Mark is not a bad person," she says of her husband, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, in an interview with Vogue magazine hitting newsstands this week. "What the world saw in that press conference is someone who is struggling. None of us are perfect. We are all trying to do the best we can."

Despite her acknowledgment of her husband's imperfections, Sanford makes clear in the interview that divorce remains an option. Two weeks ago, she moved out of the governor's mansion with the couple's four boys to spend the upcoming school year in the Charleston area.

"I have put my heart and soul into being a good mother and wife," she says. "Now I think it's up to my husband to do the soul-searching to see if he wants to stay married. The ball is in his court."

She said the man who carried on a year-long affair with Maria Belen Chapur was not the man she married. "It never occurred to me that he would do something like that," she said. "The person I married was centered on a core of morals. The person who did this is not centered on those morals."

Sanford said her husband's relationship with Chapur was almost like an addiction.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – South Carolina First Lady Jenny Sanford and her four boys are moving out of the governor's mansion in Columbia and back to their home in Charleston for the upcoming school year.

The wife of South Carolina governor Mark Sanford announced the news in a statement e-mailed to reporters on Friday, days after the family returned from a two-week vacation to an undisclosed location in Europe.

"While we will be leaving Columbia, we will return often, and I will remain engaged in activities in my role as First Lady, acknowledging that my responsibilities to my family come first," she said.

Mark and Jenny Sanford's four boys have attended Heathwood Hall Episcopal School in Columbia, but they will presumably enroll in a new school in the Charleston area.

Updated with Mark Sanford's statement after the jump

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Editor's note: Gloria Borger is a senior political analyst for CNN, appearing regularly on CNN's "The Situation Room," "Campbell Brown," "AC360°" and "State of the Union With John King," as well as special event coverage.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - After years of watching those wives stand (sadly) by their men, there was something refreshing - and real - about Jenny Sanford's decision to be far, far away from the governor's apology tour.

After all, what would she have done when he rambled on and on about his love of his "adventure trips" on the Appalachian Trail when, it turns out, he wasn't hiking?

And would she have had to sweetly smile as her husband paid homage to her as a terrific "campaign manager"?

And what affect would she have had to adopt when the governor spoke about "that whole sparking thing" - his peculiar way of describing how an e-mail relationship developed into something else?

The accepted political guidelines for jilted wives (see: wives, jilted) have always decreed that the wounded ones be seen, but stay silent. They are the suffering partners willing to literally remain in the picture out of political necessity. Their very presence helps to suggest that this love is worth saving, because this man is so special - to all of us.

Well, forget it.

Full story

WASHINGTON (CNN) – With two prominent Republicans falling prey to sexual scandals in as many weeks, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty candidly conceded Sunday that his party is in trouble.

Asked on CNN’s State of the Union how much damage the recent admissions of marital infidelity by Nevada Sen. John Ensign and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford have done to the Republican Party’s already struggling brand, Pawlenty said “it’s hard to quantify that."

“But clearly there’s been damage,” Pawlenty quickly added.

“Anytime you have leading figures who are engaged in behavior that is sad and troubling and hypocritical, other people are going to look at that and say, ‘They don’t walk the walk,’” Pawlenty CNN Chief National Correspondent John King. “And so the words and the actions don’t ring true.”

Pawlenty called the situation between Gov. Sanford and his wife, Jenny – the couple is currently separated because of the governor’s extramarital affair – “a sad and troubling situation.”

“I’m proud of Jenny for her strength . . . and, frankly, I was glad to see her not standing at the press conference [where Sanford admitted the affair last week] like many others have and kind of charting her own path.”

And Pawlenty had harsh words for his embattled counterpart in South Carolina.

Sanford “should not have left the state and not allowed people to know how to contact him in case something happened,” Pawlenty told King. “Your staff has to be able to reach you and reach you quickly for all the obvious reasons – natural disaster, terrorism, or other events,” Pawlenty also said.

Asked about the GOP’s relationship with its socially and fiscally conservative base, Pawlenty said Republicans need to return to their values.
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(CNN) - After recent confessions of adultery by two Republican politicians, Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday decided against casting the first - or any - stones regarding ethics.

Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," Graham, R-South Carolina, went out of his way to avoid any disparaging comments about rival Democrats in terms of family values. When former Massachusetts governor and fellow Republican Mitt Romney spoke of strong families as a core Republican value, Graham quickly interjected on behalf of rival Democrats.

"I don't think Democrats are for dysfunctional families," Graham said, adding that President Barack Obama has been "one of the better role models in the entire country" as a good family man and a good father.

"President Obama has done a lot of good in the way he carries himself and conducts himself" regarding family, Graham said.

His comment followed questions about South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, who admitted last week that his disappearance for five days was due to visiting his mistress in Argentina. Earlier this month, Sen. John Ensign of Nevada also admitted to an affair.

Graham said he was godfather to one of Sanford's four sons and that Sanford's top priority must be to reconcile with his wife, Jenny, and keep his family together. If Sanford does that, Graham said, then he believes the governor can serve the rest of his term, which expires in January 2011.

"Mark Sanford's lucky to have Jenny Sanford," Graham said. "I hope he realizes that. I think he does."

(CNN) – Jenny Sanford said Thursday that her husband Mark Sanford's political career is "not a concern of mine" and that she'd be just fine - whether or not their marriage survived.

She would not speculate whether her husband would resign as South Carolina governor.

"His career is not a concern of mine," she told reporters as she departed the family's vacation home in Sullivans Island, South Carolina. "He's going to have to worry about that. I'm worried about my family and the character of my children."

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