Former South Carolina Gov. and Rep. Mark Sanford continued his comeback from the Appalachian Trail on Tuesday with his onetime mistress, now fiancée, at his side.

On Tuesday night, as Sanford was celebrating his victory in South Carolina’s 1st congressional district runoff election for the Republican nomination, María Belén Chapur congratulated him at the watch party, and took her place to his right when he spoke to the crowd.

In 2009, Sanford made headlines, and put the final nail in his marriage’s coffin, when he went missing for several days. Aides were stuck telling the press that the then-governor was hiking the Appalachian Trail. He was actually in Argentina with Chapur, whom he later described as his “soul mate.”

After returning from his South American tryst, Sanford gave an infamously honest press conference wherein he admitted the infidelity and proclaimed his love for Chapur. The couple announced their engagement in August 2012.

Several weeks ago, Scott English, Sanford’s former chief of staff, tweeted a joke about the pope in which he referenced the ex-governor’s disappearance. The Internet laughed out loud.