After winning election to Congress in 1994, Mr. Sanford voted to impeach President Bill Clinton after his deceptions regarding an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Around the same time, he said he struggled with whether to support Rep. Bob Livingston, who was in line to be House speaker when he acknowledged extramarital affairs. "We as a party want to hold ourselves to high standards, period," Mr. Sanford said during a 1998 interview with the Associated Press.