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Gov Sanford, 49, who had sparked fevered speculation about his whereabouts when he went missing at the end of last week and failed to answer his phone, made a dramatric reappearance on Wednesday to reveal he had been in Argentina. Choking back tears on the steps of the State House in Columbia, the two-term Republican governor admitted to an affair with a "dear friend" in Argentina with whom he had "developed a relationship". She was named by local media as "Maria", who was separated with two children and lives in Buenos Aires. Gov Sanford, who had been seen as a potential opponent for President Barack Obama in 2012, apologised profusely to his family and staff and announced that he was stepping down as head of the Republican Governors' Association. His eyes welling with emotion, he said: "I've spent the last five days of my life crying in Argentina. I am committed to trying to get my heart right. "The bottom line is this: I have been unfaithful to my wife. Let me apologise to my wife Jenny and my four boys ... for letting them down. "It began very innocently, as I suspect many of these things do, in just a casual email back and forth," he said. "But here recently over this last year it developed into something much more than that. And as a consequence, I hurt her. I hurt you all. I hurt my wife. I hurt my boys. I hurt friends ... I hurt a lot of different folks. "What I did was wrong. Period. End of story." Asked if he was alone during the Argentina trip, he replied: "Obviously not". The relationship had become romantic about a year ago, he said, while his wife had known about it for the past five months. The website of The State, a newspaper in South Carolina, published excerpts of emails it reported were sent between Gov Sanford and "Maria". In one, sent on July 10, 2008, he praises her "particular grace and calm that I adore"; her "sophistication"; "erotic beauty" and "magnificent gentle kisses". Gov Sanford's press conference was his first public appearance since disappearing at the end of last week. His staff had said he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail to "clear his head" after a tough legislative session. He apologised for misleading them. During his absence, some South Carolina politicians accused him of abdicating responsibility. His admission will provoke glee among many Democrats as Gov Sanford has been a fierce critic of Mr Obama. Gov Sanford, a staunchly conservative southern governor, was widely considered a plausible candidate for the 2012 race. His admission will prove a further setback for the Republican party after losing so heavily to Mr Obama last November.
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