other day and said, you look a lot like lazarus. >> reporter: once left for dead in the political wilderness, mark sanford blazed a comeback trail that will take him all the way to washington. >> i just want to acknowledge a -- a guy not just with second chances, but third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth chances because that is the reality of our shared humanity. >> reporter: sanford captured a vacant south carolina congressional seat by a decisive margin, overcoming a scandal that nearly destroyed his political career. the extramarital affair with a mistress from argentina that he once falsely claimed was a hike on the appalachian trail, may finally be behind him. is this redemption? >> yeah, i think we're always on the search for redemption. i think that this certainly political redemption. we'll see where things go from here. it's less about that than it is about the second chance to make an impact in washington, d.c., where i think impact is desperately needed. >> reporter: if sanford's life