COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- South Carolina House Speaker Bobby Harrell says he wants Gov. Mark Sanford to resign.

Harrell on Tuesday sent the governor a letter asking him to step down from office because of "constant distractions" Sanford has brought.

Harrell is the latest high-ranking Republican to ask for Sanford to leave office since the revelation of his yearlong affair. Lt.

Gov. Andre Bauer also has called for him to resign.

Pressure for Sanford to leave office or be impeached has increased since June when he lied to his staff about vacation plans and returned from a rendezvous with his Argentine lover.

Subsequent Associated Press investigations of his travel on commercial airline and state and private planes have led to an ongoing State Ethics Commission investigation.

Read the letter to Gov. Sanford here.

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