( CNN ) -- South Carolina Gov . Mark Sanford told the woman with whom he was having an affair they were `` in a hopelessly impossible situation of love '' last year when he was thought to be under consideration for the Republican vice presidential nomination , according to e-mails obtained by The State newspaper . Gov . Mark Sanford speaks during a news conference at the State Capitol in Columbia on Wednesday . The Columbia-based newspaper , which acquired the e-mails in December , told CNN that the governor 's office had confirmed their authenticity on Wednesday . When contacted by CNN , a spokesman for the governor would neither confirm nor deny the authenticity of the e-mails . The e-mails between the GOP governor and a Buenos Aires , Argentina , resident named `` Maria , '' were exchanged in July of last year , according to the newspaper . In one July 10 message , Sanford told the woman about his plans to take a family vacation and meet with then-Republican presidential candidate John McCain who `` has kicked up the whole VP talk all over again in the press back home ... '' before he veered into more emotional territory . `` You have a particular grace and calm that I adore . You have a level of sophistication that so fitting with your beauty , '' Sanford wrote , according to the e-mails published on the newspaper 's Web site . Watch CNN.com 's political team discuss the situation » . `` I could digress and say that you have the ability to give magnificent gentle kisses , or that I love your tan lines or that I love the curve of your hips , the erotic beauty of you holding yourself ( or two magnificent parts of yourself ) in the faded glow of the night 's light -- but hey , that would be going into sexual details ... '' `` ... while all the things above are all too true -- at the same time we are in a ... hopelessly impossible situation of love ... . '' he added . `` How in the world this lightening strike snuck up on us I am still not quite sure . As I have said to you before I certainly had a special feeling about you from the first time we met , but these feelings were contained and I genuinely enjoyed our special friendship and the comparing of all too many personal notes ... '' Earlier , `` Maria '' -- whose full name has not yet been released -- also proclaimed her devotion in a July 9 e-mail . `` You are my love ... something hard to believe even for myself as it 's also a kind of impossible love , not only because of distance but situation , '' she wrote . `` Sometimes you do n't choose things , they just happen ... I ca n't redirect my feelings and I am very happy with mine towards you . '' John O'Connor , the newspaper reporter who wrote the story about the e-mails , told CNN Wednesday afternoon that The State did not confront Sanford with the messages in December because at the time `` there was little way to tell that these were authentic e-mails . '' Watch Gov . Sanford 's conference Wednesday » . O'Connor said that given the recent events surrounding Sanford , the paper then decided to approach the governor 's office with the e-mails . Sanford , who had been considered a potential candidate for the 2012 presidential campaign , admitted the affair Wednesday . The affair began in the last year and was discovered five months ago , Sanford told reporters without elaborating . He added he and his wife were trying to work through it . The governor had not been seen in public since June 18 . When questioned , Sanford 's staff had told media outlets that he was hiking in the Appalachian Trail . But Sanford was spotted Wednesday in Atlanta 's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport . Sanford said he had been in Buenos Aires , adding it was his fault for `` shrouding this larger trip . ''
The State newspaper says governor 's office confirmed authenticity of e-mails . `` You have a level of sophistication that so fitting with your beauty , '' S.C. governor wrote . Argentine woman returned his feelings : `` You are my love ... `` Paper acquired e-mails in December , did n't pursue authentication until recently .