Signature Sanford campaign signs in 1st District race.

Newly elected 1st District Congressman Mark Sanford will be sworn in Wednesday afternoon and returns to Congress ready to put some things behind him. He swept the election against a high-profile newcomer Elizabeth Colbert Busch, with little support from South Carolina’s “rock star” Republicans– and less from the national party.

All of them were spooked by scandal, beginning with a tryst an ethics panel says was partly funded by tax money. The most recent problem being his repeated violation of his divorce decree by appearing at his ex-wife’s house. Then his mistress-turned-fiance showed up at his victory party.

He says the voters listened to his policy ideas over his personal life.

“They really do want somebody that’s serious about the way the government taxes and spends. I’ve got well chronicled failings. They’re all out there, they’ve been talked about, and the ads have been run on them,” says Sanford. “I also have a well-earned track record from the standpoint of trying to watch out for tax payers.”

Beaufort Senator Tom Davis is Sanford’s friend of 34 years and former chief of staff. He says Sanford’s fall from grace in 2009 was a blow to libertarian Republicans.

“To see my friend get back up and start talking about the things he believes in, it was gratifying to see him vindicated,” says Davis. “I think it’s extraordinarily important that we have a powerful voice, a compelling voice, back in the game.”

Sanford served in the late 1990′s and was known then as one of the John McCain fiscal “mavericks.” This time around, he can join a new crowd of like-minded libertarians.

“I think in terms of soul mates up there in Washington, DC. That’s an unfortunate choice of words, but I’m talking about a political soul mate. I think somebody like a Rand Paul, or a Justin Amash, or Mike Lee or Ted Cruz. I mean somebody that is a Republican that recognizes that the positions that the Republican party has taken in recent years have often been undistinguishable from  the positions taken by the Democratic Party,” says Davis.   

Sanford told affiliate WTMA he is ready to take on some White House programs.

“I guess in military terms you would define it as a target rich environment if you care about financial sanity, If you even care about common sense. So, I don’t know whether that means looking at something like Obamacare and finding ways that we can defund parts or all of it. I don’t know if it’s looking at something like the Keystone pipeline and saying this is incredible insanity to think we have these kinds of energy suppliers in this continent, and yet we won’t connect,” says Sanford.

Sanford told South Carolina Radio Network he has learned to listen: “I think I would try to listen more intently to the perspective of others…spend a bit more time than I used to in saying, ‘Look I know what I believe, I know why I believe it but I sure don’t have a lock on wisdom, truth or knowledge, therefore let me better understand where you are coming from.’ ”

Davis says he has seen that in Sanford. “It is a real change and I think that’s going to make him a more effective leader. One of the complaints that people had about Sanford when he was governor was that he wouldn’t listen to opposition, he wouldn’t listen to other ideas, and he wouldn’t work with others to accomplish objectives. And I think what you find now is a Mark Sanford who is willing to listen more and I think he’s going to be a better leader for it,” says Davis.

Sanford served in Congress between 1995 and 2001 before becoming governor. He will be sworn in by House Speaker John Boehner at 5:15 p.m. on May 15.