Gov. Mark Sanford still has a ton of money in his gubernatorial account, with the latest report showing $1,661,865.26 on hand. The contributions consist of interest payments, mostly. Also, it seems that Sanford has yet to split ties with long-time adviser Jon Lerner.

Notable disbursements
The Lukens Company (direct mail), $2,323.16
Red Sea LLC (consulting), $4,000
Resolution Graphics (postage), $1,388.46

Gov. Mark Sanford is in his penultimate year in office, so despite his recent mess, you would think he wouldn’t have any use for a campaign consultant. And, for a guy who famously does not seem to care what South Carolinians think when he’s developing his policies, he’s dropping serious coin on polling.

On May 11, Sanford paid his (and Rep. Nikki Haley‘s) consultant Jon Lerner $4,000 for “consulting services.” He also sent $10,055 to Lerner’s polling wing, Basswood Research, on the same day. Then, on June 29, he paid Lerner an additional $1,050. This comes on the heels of throwing $4,000 to Red Sea LLC in January, $4,100 in October, $4,000 in August, $17,135 last June and another $4,000 last May. But, it’s not like he’s been consistently paying Lerner during the second term — the first quarter of 2008 and fourth quarter of 2007 list no payments.

So, what’s the payoff? What’s Sanford getting? And why the hell is he putting down 10 large for polling in May?

And what is up with this?

Rep. Nikki Haley, by all considerations the “Sanford candidate” for governor, has moved a post and removed a picture of Gov. Mark Sanford‘s non-endorsement endorsement from her Web site today in the wake of the Governor’s, shall we say, eccentric behavior in the past few days.

However, she didn’t totally remove the post, which quotes Sanford saying, “Nikki Haley is a true conservative and one of our state’s leading voices for fiscal responsibility and government reform. It’s too early to endorse anyone, but I would say Nikki Haley would make a terrific and inspiring choice as governor, and she’s a great addition to the field of candidates.”

According to both The Fix and Politico, no one at her campaign is responding. However, we do not believe this changes anything about her position in the Republican gubernatorial nomination race. After all, we broke the story on May 6 that Haley brought in Sanford consultant Jon Lerner, who is known as one of the go-to guys for the Club for Growth, one of the primary third-party backers of the Governor and people of a similar ideology. She’s also hired away Justin Evans, formerly of the pro-Sanford conservative think tank S.C. Policy Council.

Unless something changes, she appears to be in close with Sanford’s cadre of well-heeled backers as ever.

After a couple weeks of building staff, hiring consultants and being given office space, Rep. Nikki Haley will announce for governor this week, sources tell WR. Some are saying the announcement could come as early as Thursday.

In the past several days, she has hired Maryland-based consultant Jon Lerner, who does a significant amount of work for the national Club for Growth and ran Gov. Mark Sanford‘s 2006 campaign. She also hired Tim Pearson, former rapid response man for Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign, to do her communications work, along with bringing in other lower-level staffers.

With U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett and Sen. Larry Grooms already in the race, and Atty. Gen. Henry McMaster and Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer expected to jump in, Haley will be the fifth candidate in the Republican primary, having to battle the big three for money and grassroots support. She will also have to compete with Grooms for the Sanford-friendly types, both in dollars and on the ground. However, her tie-in with Lerner could signal that Sanford allies are already organized behind her bid.

UPDATE: Word into the WR newsroom is that Justin Evans, formerly a research associate with the S.C. Policy Council, has already left the SCPC to work for the Haley campaign.

Bethesda, Md.-based consultant Jon Lerner, who was instrumental to Gov. Mark Sanford‘s 2006 victory over Sen. Tommy Moore, has been brought on to manage Rep. Nikki Haley‘s campaign for governor, sources tell WR.

Lerner, who heads up the firm Red Sea LLC and its polling arm, Basswood Research, is allegedly currently going through the process of hiring staff for the effort. Apparently, Brad Warthen, former editorial page editor for The State, ran into one of those new hires at a local Starbucks recently.

While Warthen wrote that he does not want Haley to be the “Sanford candidate” in this cycle, her hiring of the Governor’s lead consultant from his last campaign shows that, indeed, she will be running in that vein.

In addition to Sanford’s campaign, Lerner has done a solid amount of work for the Club for Growth (including the infamous “Freak” ad), the Republican Governors Association and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Gov. Mark Sanford‘s disclosure report for this quarter finally went online, confirming what was expected and also raising questions.

Currently, the term-limited governor is sitting on $1.68 million, and has enough money earning interest in accounts that NBSC sent over $1,512.42 in January and $944.35 in February.

His expenditures were pretty much run of the mill from previous periods. Reimbursements to Sanford, payments for cell phones and credit card fees.

However, the Governor also paid consultant Jon Lerner, who helped run his 2006 campaign, $4,000 on January 29. Now, what would an official in Sanford’s position need with a campaign consultant?