Davis addresses the 'elephant in the room' (Sanford) during business speech

State Sen. Tom Davis of Beaufort was scheduled to discuss a planned port in Jasper County, education funding and other legislative issues with business and civic leaders Thursday.

But he also vowed to his audience not to ignore "the elephant in the room" at Colleton River Plantation's Nicklaus Clubhouse.

Davis began his appearance by mentioning Gov. Mark Sanford, his longtime friend and former boss, who publicly admitted Wednesday to having an extramarital affair with a woman in Argentina. He then referred to Sanford several more times while discussing other topics and taking questions from a group of about 100 people during a meeting of the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce's Bluffton-Hardeeville Business Council.

He fielded about a half-dozen questions, one of which was about Sanford.

When the questioner asked if Davis thought Sanford's political career was over, Davis responded, "It could be."

"It depends on how people react to him in the days ahead," Davis said.Since his former boss repeatedly mentioned Davis' name during Wednesday's news conference, the senator was interviewed several times on national television, including ABC's "Good Morning America," CBS' "The Early Show" and CNN's "Larry King Live." Davis also conducted brief interviews with local reporters before and after Thursday's event.

Davis said Thursday he had spoken with Sanford's wife, Jenny, and is hopeful the couple can repair their broken marriage.

"They are strong people, they love each other and they're going to work their way through this," Davis said.

The friendship between Sanford and Davis began years ago, when they studied together at Furman University in Greenville, Davis said.

Back then, Davis said, he was the "beer-drinking, card-playing kind," while Sanford was the one starting a Christian fraternity.

But over time, the two men became political allies.

A day after Sanford's revelations, Davis said he hopes to limit damage to their shared agenda. Along with a philosophical commitment to fiscal conservatism, the two share a desire to bring a port to Jasper County.

"I truly believe in what he was trying to advance," said Davis, who began his political career as a Democrat before switching allegiances to Sanford's Republican Party. Davis later served as Sanford's chief of staff.

Davis said he wants people to know the governor seemed truly contrite when the two spoke Wednesday before Sanford addressed the media.

"He kept coming back to, 'I want people to understand as clearly as I can say it how badly I feel,' " Davis said.

Davis admitted, however, that Sanford has made it tougher for his allies to advance the cause of restructuring state government.

"It makes it incredibly more difficult," Davis said. "But we go on from here."