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closeColumbia lawyer Leighton Lord has announced he is running for state attorney general as a Republican.
"South Carolina desperately needs new leadership, leadership from the private sector that will get things done, not for political reasons, but for the right reasons," said Lord in an interview.
Lord, 46, said his executive and legal experience as managing partner of the 180-lawyer Nexsen Pruet law firm has been good training for the attorney general's job.
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Also running
Republican Alan Wilson of Lexington County is the only other declared candidate in the attorney general's race.
Wilson is a former state prosecutor and the eldest son of Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson.
Wilson was an assistant solicitor with South Carolina's 11th Circuit from 2003 to 2006 and an assistant attorney general from 2007 until January. Between those jobs, the National Guard major served a year in Iraq.
Wilson works at Willoughby & Hoefer, a Columbia-based civil litigation law firm. He and his wife, Jennifer, have a 1-year-old son, Michael. Their second child is due in December.
Leighton Lord
Age: 46
Political experience: No elective offices
Public experience: Former staff lawyer for the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Investigations
Occupation: Lawyer and managing partner of Nexsen Pruet, the state's second-largest law firm
Education: Bachelor's degree, University of Delaware, 1986; law degree, Vanderbilt Law School, 1989
Family: Married to Caroline Averyt Lord; three children, Will, Owen and Isabelle
As managing partner, he oversees numerous and diverse business and legal concerns for the state's second largest law firm, he said.
A state attorney general also oversees numerous legal specialties, from the state grand jury to charities to the environment, Lord said.
"You need somebody who is used to managing diverse legal areas," Lord said.
Lord also is on the board of directors of Santee Cooper, the state's largest electric utility.
Lord has filed a statement with the State Ethics Commission that allows him to begin collecting and spending money for his campaign.
He plans a formal announcement in October.
Lord joins Alan Wilson, a former assistant S.C. attorney general and son of U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, as a Republican contender.
The Republican and Democratic primaries are set for June.
Incumbent Attorney General Henry McMaster, a Republican, is running for governor.
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