Sanford declared himself the underdog in Tuesday’s election and told POLITICO this will be his final campaign if he loses. He’s running behind but gaining on Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch in a Republican stronghold — clawing his way back with a campaign of improvisation and emotion completely unlike the carefully choreographed approach of his opponent.

Sanford was self-reflective as he reckoned with the prospect of resuming a more mundane career in the private sector. He was frustrated with incessant questions about his personal problems and an unwelcome endorsement from pornographer Larry Flynt. And he flashed anger at national GOP leaders who abandoned his comeback bid…

“It’s a very big inflection point, and if it doesn’t happen I’m forever back to the world of real estate, and I’m at peace with that,” Sanford said as he sat in an auditorium at The Citadel, the state’s famed military academy. “If not, I may have another bite at the apple in terms of advancing ideas I’ve longed believed in.”