The calls for Gov. Mark Sanford’s resignation from the GOP ranks are growing, but one Republican governor candidate in 2010 is not among them.

State Rep. Nikki Haley, a staunch fiscal conservative and an ally of the embattled governor’s, accused state Republican leaders of keeping the scandal surrounding Sanford going and “doing so for its own political purposes.”

In the last two days Republican House Speaker Bobby Harrell and the state House Republican Caucus leadership have both publicly demanded that Sanford step down, saying the uproar over the governor’s affair, revealed in June, and ensuing investigations into his state-funded travel practices have become a distraction.