Half of South Carolina voters asked whether scandal-plagued Gov. Mark Sanford should stay or go picked "resign" in a poll conducted Thursday by Insider Advantage.
Of those responding to the poll of 917 voters, 50 percent said they were for Sanford's resignation, while 37 percent believed he should remain in office and 14 percent had no opinion.
There have been growing calls for Sanford to step down since he admitted in June to an affair with a woman in Argentina. Since then, additional questions have been raised about his travel spending as governor, hurting his image as a fiscal conservative and leading to investigations into whether Sanford broke the law.
Democratic voters were the most likely to say Sanford should resign - 63 percent supported his ouster, according to the Insider Advantage poll. But despite pleas from high-profile Republicans to step down, including one earlier this week from Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, a plurality of the GOP rank-and-file prefer Sanford remain in office. Forty-seven percent of Republicans surveyed aid Sanford should stay, while 41 percent think he should resign. Among independents, those supporting Sanford's resignation have a ten-percentage-point edge - 48 percent compared to 38 percent who want him to remain.
The debate over the governor's resignation may, however, become moot, as momentum builds for impeachment proceedings against him. State Republican lawmakers are expected to discuss the matter this weekend at their retreat in Myrtle Beach, including whether to call for a special legislative session this fall to handle the impeachment, rather than wait until the Assembly reconvenes in January.
Sanford is prevented by term limits from running for governor again in 2010.
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