Wife of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford Files for Divorce

Jenny Sanford, the wife of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, said Friday she is filing for divorce.

She said in a statement that "the dissolution of any marriage is a sad and painful process."

"This came after many unsuccessful efforts at reconciliation, yet I am still dedicated to keeping the process that lies ahead peaceful for our family," the statement said, CNN reports.

Jenny Sanford announced that she was filing for divorce, the latest chapter in the soap opera that has become the life of the former presidential aspirant, who admitted having an extramarital affair with a woman from Argentina.

"As so many of us know, the dissolution of any marriage is a sad and painful process. It is also a very personal and private one. Because Mark and I are public figures, we have naturally had less privacy with which to deal with our difficulties than do other couples," Jenny Sanford said in a prepared statement.

"I am now filing for divorce. This came after many unsuccessful efforts at reconciliation, yet I am still dedicated to keeping the process that lies ahead peaceful for our family," she said, Los Angeles Times informs.

On Wednesday, a South Carolina legislative subcommittee voted not to recommend the impeachment of Sanford, saying his secret trip in June for an affair with an Argentine woman did not meet the constitutional standard of "serious misconduct."

The matter goes before the full judiciary committee of the South Carolina House of Representatives for a vote next week.

The governor said his wife had been "more than gracious" over the past six months.

"While it is not the course I would have hoped for, or would choose, I want to take full responsibility for the moral failure that led to this tragic point," Sanford said in a statement, Reuters informs.