Pressure Mounts on Sanford

In the wake of Gov. Mark Sanford's admission this week that he had "crossed lines" with other women, and the revelation last Thursday that he visited his Argentinian liaison while on a taxpayer-funded trip last June, the calls on Sanford to step down are growing.

A wave of calls for his resignation were issued last night and today. According to the latest head counts, at least 12 (14 according to one published count) of the state Senate's 27 Republicans are calling on him to resign--a list that includes Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, who orchestrated a letter signed by five of his colleagues yesterday. They were joined this morning by a call from at least one additional GOP senator, that one being the chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee.

Two Republicans in the state House are also calling on Sanford to resign, according to a list put together by The Greenville News, as well as U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), the South Carolina Democratic Party, and six South Carolina newspapers, including the aforementioned Greenville News.

"He dropped the flag," DeMint said today on Fox News. "The rest of us have to get up and go on."

House Speaker Bobby Harrell (R) isn't calling on Sanford to resign, but he is calling, along with a few others, for a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division investigation into whether Sanford misused state funds to conduct his affair.

Sanford has no plans to resign, a spokesman told the Greenville News today.