Columbia attorney ‘considering’ a run for SC governor

A Columbia attorney says she’s considering a run for governor next year.

Marguerite Willis, a business attorney with the Nexsen Pruet law firm, said she’s weighing her options for running as a Democrat in the 2018 campaign.

Willis, said she wants to focus on improving access to health care and restructuring the state government, including taking the power to appoint judges away from lawmakers and making judges an elected position.

“We need an independent judiciary that isn’t run hand and fist by the Legislature,” Willis said. “I’ve worked a long time in the court system... and I just think there’s got to be a better way.”

A native of Greenville, Willis has worked for Nexsen Pruet for the last 18 years and co-chairs the Columbia firm’s antitrust practice. She’s never run for elected office before, but her husband Frank Willis is a former mayor of Florence.

“My only political experience is riding in the back of pickup trucks in Christmas parades,” she said.

This story was originally published November 8, 2017 at 1:33 PM with the headline "Columbia attorney ‘considering’ a run for SC governor."