Mark Sanford Defeats Stephen Colbert’s Sister in Congressional Election

Stephen Colbert’s sister lost her bid for a seat in Congress on Tuesday night.

Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch was defeated by disgraced former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford. With the win, the Republican takes back his old seat in the state’s 1st District.

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Sanford became embroiled in a scandal upon admitting to an extramarital affair in 2009 with Maria Belen Chapur, to whom he is now engaged. He had claimed he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail when in reality he was in Argentina visiting his mistress.

Sanford became a late-night punch line after the truth came out. Quipped Late Show host David Letterman at the time: “Gov. Mark Sanford disappeared … and it turned out he was in South America. And then it turned out he was down there because he was sleeping with a woman from Argentina. Once again, foreigners taking jobs that Americans won’t do.”

Colbert, meanwhile, had broken character — he plays a conservative in his role as host of Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report — to help with his sister’s campaign.

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“I’m willing to, you know, break the jewel of my own creation to try to do something for her,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper in March. “I’m not worried about what it would do to me or my show to try to help her as myself — not as my character, to help her as myself. And you know, if people think that’s not the right thing for me to do, I don’t care. It’s my sister, and I’m willing to help her.”