Former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford released a full page ad in a local newspaper explaining why he was caught leaving his ex-wife's house, the revelation of which started a domino effect for his congressional campaign.
He didn't stop explaining his side of the story with the 1,200-word ad either, as he included his real cell phone number in the 'personal message', encouraging voters to call him with questions.
'I think that people always want to know the real story, the full story,' he told MailOnline by phone.
'Context matters': Former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford told MailOnline that he released a full page ad in order to get his side of the trespassing story out to the voters before the election
The Republican former governor was the subject of an ethics investigation after he was caught returning to his home state after a trip to visit his mistress in Argentina even though he told his staff he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail. The affair lead to his fall from grace, and eventual divorce from his wife Jenny.
Now the details of their divorce have come to light after she filed a lawsuit against him for a 'pattern' of trespassing after he entered her Sullivans’ Island home without her permission in early February.
Last-ditch effort: Sanford's campaign took out a lengthy ad in a local paper over the weekend as his poll numbers drop just two weeks before the election
That lawsuit led to an explanation from Sanford- who said he was watching the second half of the Super Bowl with his 14-year-old son while his ex was out of town- but that didn't stop the National Republican Congressional Committee from pulling their funding from the race.
And that move came even before Jenny confirmed that the first time that one of the couples' sons met his Argentinian mistress-turned-fiancée was on stage at his primary victory party just weeks ago.
When MailOnline spoke to Mr Sanford on Monday, he said that he felt the need to take out the lengthy ad in The Post and Courier in order to make sure that the voters knew the whole story.
'I think that context matters,' he said.
The first reports of the trespassing incident in question drew from the court documents that Jenny Sanford's legal team filed, saying that he was seen leaving the back door of her Sullivans Island home using his cell phone as a flashlight.
'That's a rather spooky story- it would creep anybody out,' he said.
For that reason, he and his campaign staff felt the need to flesh it out more in print, in wordy detail.
'I did, indeed, watch the second half of the Super Bowl at the beach house with our 14-year-old son because, as a father, I didn't think he should sit alone and watch it. Given Jenny was out of town, I tried to reach her beforehand to tell her of the situation that had arisen, and met her at the back steps and told her what had happened under the light of my cell phone when she returned,' the ad reads.
The 10-paragraph ad goes on to talk about the influx of funding from Democratic political action committees, backing his competitor Elizabeth Colbert Busch.
It also talks about his history of cutting government spending, even taking the unexpected route of bringing up his frugality when it came to his trips while serving as the state's governor.
Awkward: Mark Sanford's son is visibly uncomfortable when he was standing next to his father's mistress-turned-fiancee Maria Belen Chapur, a woman he had met for the first time just moments before
Celebration: Sanford leans in for a kiss with his fiancee following his win on Tuesday night
Considering his ethics charges- of which he was cleared- surrounding the extramarital affair stemmed from the cost of his trips to meet his mistress, talking about other issues may have seemed like the more politically safe option.
One thing he does not mention in the ad is the report that one of his son's first meetings with his father's mistress-turned-fiancée was onstage at his victory party for his primary win earlier this month.
When asked if the public venue was really the first time that his son had met his future stepmother, he said: 'one of them had and one of them hadn't'.
More...
Surprise right-winger leads pro-Obama push against most Republicans as the Boston bombing and Social Security fears add fuel to America's immigration debate
NBC wins ratings race during Friday's capturing of Boston bombing suspect... and CNN is still next-to-last
'That's the nature of a surprise- I didn't know she was coming,' he said of his fiancée Maria Belen Chapur.
The report of the awkward encounter made news when Jenny Sanford confirmed it on Wednesday.
The trespassing revelation, family introduction at the victory party and the withdrawal of NRCC funding all made for- as, Sanford said in the ad, ‘a rough week’. And now a new poll shows that it has taken its toll.
Ex-couples court: Former governor Mark Sanford (left, now running for the state's open congressional seat) is accused of trespassing on his ex-wife's property and she confirmed the victory party incident
Trespassing: Jenny Sanford's lawyer filed court documents stating that her ex-husband Mark repeatedly entered her Sullivans Island home (pictured) without permission
The Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling released the latest numbers on Monday saying that Sanford was trailing Mrs Colbert Busch by nine points, with the Democrat winning 50 per cent to the Republican’s 41 per cent.
The poll was conducted between April 19 and 21, two days after the wave of bad news hit the Sanford campaign.
'Elizabeth Colbert Busch is now looking like a clear favorite in the special election,' the poll reads.
'The only question is whether an extremely unpopular Sanford can find some way to make voters like her even less than him in the next two weeks.'