The pressure is increasing on South Carolina governor Mark Sanford to resign. As the South Carlina newspaper the State reports :
Six of 27 members of the conservative Senate Republican Caucus Tuesday night issued a letter calling on Gov. Mark Sanford to resign.
Two additional senators considered among Sanford’s staunchest allies, also said they want him to resign though they did not sign the letter. Two other senior senators who spoke to the State said Tuesday’s revelations moved them closer to asking Sanford to step down.
The letter was written by Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, and was also signed by the chairman of the Senate Rules committee, Larry Martin.
South Carolina's Senate has 46 members, 27 of which are Republicans and 19 Democrats. For Sanford to be convicted and removed from office via impeachment, a 2/3 majority in the Senate is needed. Assuming all 10 Republicans mentioned in the State article and all Democrats will vote to convict Sanford, only 2 more Senators would be needed to convict.
Before Stanford can be convicted, he has of course first to be impeached, again with 2/3 of the vote, by the House, where the Republicans hold 73 of the 124 seats.
House members have been quieter on the Sanford affair than senators, and House Speaker wants to wait for the result of the State Law Enforcement Division's investigation into Sanford's travels and expenses before discussing impeachment. The SLED says that the investigation will be finished in a few days.
Things don't look bright for Sanford and maybe he will actually spend some time on his own the upcoming holiday weekend and think about his future.