I'll Be Back

F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote that there are “no second acts” in American lives. Try telling that to Mark Sanford. Or Robert Ford.
Three years ago, former state Sen. Robert Ford (D-Charleston) resigned from the office he’d held for more than 20 years. At the time, he said it was for health reasons, but he was also facing an investigation into his spending habits with campaign donations.
Last year, Ford pled guilty and was convicted on four misdemeanor counts ranging from forgery to ethics violations. Prosecutors held that he’d been living off his campaign donations, violated state law more than 300 times, and falsified financial disclosure forms in his senatorial and gubernatorial campaigns.
Some of Ford’s purchases generated headlines as well as titters, which allegedly included personal clothing as well as sex toys and male enhancement supplements.
A state judge sentenced Ford to serve five years of probation, including 350 hours of community and an order to pay $69,000 in restitution. But, apparently didn’t include a moratorium on future political office in the sentence.
Ford joined a growing list of Lowcountry politicians who have gotten in hot water, but attempted to return to public service – like Sanford who ran successfully for a U.S. Congressional seat, and Thomas Ravenel, who unsuccessfully ran for office after serving a prison sentence on cocaine-related charges.
At the time of his sentencing last year, Ford was unrepentant, saying publicly that he might run again if the public wanted it.
Apparently, Ford is now heeding that “call.”
Two weeks ago, Ford began sending out notices that he intended to run for his old Senate seat, which represents much of West Ashley, as well as up the I-26 corridor from Calhoun Street to Dorchester County.
“I have not filed, yet,” said Ford last week, as deadlines to do so are still several months away. “But I have announced my intentions, and I have already begun actively campaigning.”
Winthrop political scientist Scott Huffmon, who runs the state’s most influential nonpartisan polling center, said not to underestimate Ford’s chances.
“The thing is, voters are far less informed than anyone gives them credit for, especially when it comes to paying attention on smaller elections,” said Huffmon. “Some people won’t go quietly into that good night after getting caught for doing something the average person would be humiliated by.”
When finally reached on the phone, Ford would not answer repeated requests for comment, saying he was working with veterans at that moment at the downtown VA hospital, but did forward a notice of his accomplishments and campaign promises.
His claimed accomplishments included funding historically black and “church-owned” colleges and universities, and the creation of two state holidays while in the state Senate, as well as providing the “pivotal” vote in the creation of the Arthur Ravenel Bridge.
Ford’s announcement has caused ripples across the state. State Sen. Wes Hayes (R-Rock Hill) sits on the Senate Ethics Committee and said a special called meeting is scheduled for this week, and that he expects the focus will be on answering questions on Ford’s apparent candidacy.
Marlon Kimpson currently holds that seat, won in an 2013 special election, and whom the state party named Democrat of the Year in 2015.
Charleston County Democratic Party chairman Brady Quirk-Garvan stood fast with Kimpson. “As the party, we will obviously help whoever the Democratic nominee is, and we firmly believe that will be Marlon Kimpson.
Kimpson was reserved when asked about Ford coming for his old seat.
“I will react to Robert Ford or any other candidate that files against me after the filing,” said Kimpson. “I plan to run an aggressive campaign based on my record of achievements of the past three years; everything else is on the table.”
Kimpson, a local attorney, said he had not reviewed Ford’s “voluminous” legal file, and did not know whether he was legally allowed to run for office, as he has been focused on issues affecting the state.
Requests for clarification on whether Ford could run were made to the office of state Attorney General Alan Wilson, but his spokesperson was not available for comment.