COLUMBIA — Gov. Mark Sanford is not going to bend to criticism that he has put political aspirations above the needs of a desperate state by changing his mind about rejecting $700 million in federal stimulus cash.

The two-term Republican governor is standing firm in the face of mounting pressure that includes a New York Times editorial published Sunday that called Sanford's actions reckless. The governor's controversial stance, which has won him kudos from the country's conservatives, is not the first decision that is not popular with the "left-leaning media" and won't be the last, Sanford press secretary Joel Sawyer said Monday.