Don't expect former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford to get a dinner invite from House Speaker John Boehner if he wins the Palmetto State's special congressional election.
Boehner was decidedly chilly toward Sanford when reporters asked him if Republican leaders would "welcome" the onetime GOP golden boy with "open arms" if he is victorious in Tuesday's special election,
The Hill reports.
"The voters of the 1st District of South Carolina will make their decision,” Boehner said guardedly to reporters at a press conference on Capitol Hill.
"Just like any one of us or any of the 435 members of Congress, we don't get to choose who they are.
"Their electorate gets to decide," Boehner continued, "so we'll see what the outcome is today."
The GOP has kept a fair distance from Sanford, once mentioned as possible presidential timber, since his fall from grace.
Sanford finished out his term in the governor's mansion in disgrace after admitting to a steamy, jet-setting affair with an Argentine beauty who is now his fiancee.
He now hopes to make a comeback by winning the House seat vacated by Sen. Tim Scott when Scott replaced Jim DeMint.
Sanford has been in a virtual dead heat with Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, sister of Comedy Central satirist Stephen Colbert.
Boehner did endorse Sanford last month after he won the GOP primary. But on Tuesday, he didn't mention his name.
South Carolina's House Republicans recently pulled their funding from Sanford’s war chest after it emerged his ex-wife Jenny Sanford had charged him with trespassing at her home.
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