By BILL BARROW and BRUCE SMITH
Associated Press
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - A congressional primary along the South Carolina coast has emerged as a free-for-all driven more by personality than debate over party direction.
Former Gov. Mark Sanford headlines the list of 16 candidates. He's attempting a comeback almost four years after disclosing an extramarital affair with a woman who's now his fiancee.
The primary is Tuesday, with the probable GOP runoff set for early April.
The nominee will be favored in the May 7 general election to succeed Tim Scott, the congressman who's now in the Senate.
Scott became the South's first African-American senator since Reconstruction when Gov. Nikki Haley appointed him to the seat after fellow Republican Jim DeMint resigned. Scott joined the Senate in January.
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