Ex-sen. runs for old seat while on probation COLUMBIA, S.C. — A former South Carolina senator who resigned amid an ethics investigation, pleaded guilty to misconduct in office and now faces a probation violation charge is seeking his old Senate seat. Robert Ford of Charleston filed this week to run for the Senate seat he held for 20 years before resigning in 2013 midway into Senate Ethics hearings on charges he used donations for personal expenses and then tried to cover it up. The 67-year-old Democrat was sentenced last May to five years of probation after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges of misconduct in office, forgery and ethics law violations.