Washington, September 10 (RHC)-- Former South Carolina Governor and Congressmember Mark Sanford has entered the Republican 2020 primary race.  He made the announcement on Fox News, ahead of a formal launch later this week. 

“As a Republican Party, we have lost our way,” he told Fox News host Chris Wallace.  Sanford has highlighted government spending and federal debt as key issues.  He is a Trump critic who lost his congressional seat in 2018 after being defeated by a pro-Trump challenger in the primaries; Democrat Joe Cunningham eventually won the seat. 

Sanford is the third Republican to challenge Trump for the 2020 nomination, joining former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld and former Illinois Congressmember Joe Walsh.  Sanford, however, will not be able to run in a primary in his own state since the South Carolina Republican Party voted to skip the presidential primary next year to save money and throw the state’s support behind the Trump campaign.