Jenny Sanford, the wife of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, has moved out of the official governor’s residence with their four sons as of this morning.
This comes a little more than a month after Mark Sanford admitted an affair with an Argentine woman, Maria Belen Chapur, calling her his “soul mate.”
Jenny Sanford and several other women moved boxes from the governor’s mansion in Columbia, S.C. In a statement, Jenny said she was heading to the family home on Sullivans Island, some 120 miles east, for the upcoming school year.
“We will work to continue the process of healing our family,” she said.
“While we will be leaving Columbia, I will remain engaged in activities in my role as First Lady, acknowledging that my responsibilities to my family come first.”
Gov. Mark Sanford says he supports his wife’s decision to move out of the governor’s mansion, just weeks after he admitted to an affair with another woman.
The governor says the decision was best for the couple’s reconciliation. In July, the couple and their children returned this week from a trip to Europe.
The boys had attended a private school in Columbia.
Jenny Sanford is a former Wall Street vice president who helped launch her husband’s political career only to endure his tearful public confession in June.
She had separated from her husband and sought refuge with her sons at the couple’s coastal home before news of his affair with Maria Belen Chapur broke.
Mark Sanford lied about his whereabouts and went off the grid, traveling to Argentina to see Chapur. This was exposed, along with his racy emails to her.