Democrats run ads against Sanford in SC House race

WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Democrats are launching their first television ad against former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford in a special congressional election, arguing that the Republican broke voters' trust in 2009 when he used taxpayer money to travel to Argentina to visit his mistress at the time.

The $200,000 ad buy by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee comes days after Sanford's ex-wife accused him of trespassing in her home.

The ad features grainy images of a man walking through the woods, a reference to staffers telling the media that Sanford was hiking the Appalachian Trail when he was actually in Argentina with the woman who is now his fiancee.

The ad says that Sanford violated the trust of voters, used taxpayer dollars to fly to Argentina, "and then lied about it."