( CNN ) -- The last time Mark Sanford held public office , his political career was thought to be over after he admitted to an extramarital affair . The South Carolina governor said he was looking for forgiveness when he began his bid for the congressional seat he held from 1995 to 2001 . On Tuesday , it appeared that his push for political redemption was working , as he took a 13 percentage point lead in a Republican primary runoff for the seat , according to early , unofficial reports from the South Carolina State Election Commission . His opponent , Charleston City Councilman Curtis Bostic , conceded to Sanford . Whether to forgive him , the Republican told CNN in January , would be a personal decision for each voter . `` There 's an amazing reservoir of human grace out there , there 's a reservoir of God 's grace that each of us have to access ourselves as best we can , '' he said during the interview on CNN 's Piers Morgan Tonight . Sanford wins GOP nomination for House seat . Some voters , Sanford said , told him they will consider his background before deciding their vote . `` Forgiveness really is in the hands of the other , and I think it 's incumbent upon each of us to make that decision for ourselves , '' he said , citing his 52 years in the state and two decades in politics . Last month it appeared the political scales were once again tipping in Sanford 's favor after he came in first in a 16-candidate primary . He finished with 37 % of the vote , far short of the 50 % needed to avoid a runoff , but he said that his first-place finish was `` incredibly humbling . '' Sanford , 52 , had taken heat from his opponents in the crowded GOP primary field who criticized him for his past and for being a `` career politician . '' Sanford 's re-entry into politics comes after an extramarital affair derailed his marriage and political career . As governor , he infamously told the public in 2009 he was hiking the Appalachian Trail while he was actually traveling to Argentina to carry on the affair . He and his then-wife , Jenny , divorced in 2010 , and Sanford finished his second term in January 2011 . The experience , he told CNN , changed his perspective . `` If you went through the level of destruction that I brought about it my own life , you have this yearning to construct something , '' he said in 2011 . `` We get our priorities mixed up in life . Fundamentally life is about relationships -- relationship to God and relationship to those around us . '' He and his ex-wife , Jenny , were almost pitted against one another on the GOP primary ballot in March after both indicated their interest . But in January , Jenny Sanford said she would not seek the nomination , leaving Mark Sanford to formally announce his bid . He is currently engaged to Maria Belen Chapur , the woman with whom he carried on the affair . Chapur , who rarely appears in public with Sanford , was by his side during his victory speech . The seat is up for a May 7 special election after Rep. Tim Scott resigned it upon his appointment to fill the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by Jim DeMint 's resignation . Sanford is expected to face a tough bid for the seat against Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch , the sister of TV political commentator Stephen Colbert . And this time around , Sanford pitched himself as a fiscal conservative who spoke out on the issues of debt , deficit , and federal spending years ago , issues that are now very much at the forefront . `` We 're having a new fiscal crisis , it seems , every couple months , '' he said . `` So what I want to do is take what I 've learned and hopefully apply it to again a great conundrum that now exists in Washington , which is how do we get our financial house in order . '' CNN 's Chelsea J. Carter , Catherine E. Shoichet , Jim Acosta , Paul Steinhauser , Kevin Liptak , Peter Hamby and Ashley Killough contributed to this report .
Note : Sanford 's wife appeared with him during his acceptance speech . Mark Sanford lost a Republican primary runoff for a congressional seat . His political career was thought to have ended in 2009 when he admitted to an affair . Sanford has been pitching himself as a fiscal conservative and pushing for redemption .