Alan Wilson is the Republican nominee for attorney general, according to The Associated Press, besting Columbia attorney Leighton Lord in a hotly contested runoff.

Wilson, 37, is the son of Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., and a former prosecutor with the 11th Circuit and the Attorney General’s Office. Lord, 47, is a former managing partner in one of the state’s largest law firms, Nexsen Pruet and a Santee Cooper board member.

Wilson will now face Columbia Attorney Matthew Richardson, a Democrat, in the November general election.

- Staff reports