Underdog plays defense, offense in runoff with Wilson for SC attorney general

With just days left until the GOP primary runoff for S.C. attorney general, challenger Todd Atwater is on the go, taking jabs at incumbent Alan Wilson's ties to Richard Quinn's political empire and answering questions about his own ethics.

Asked Thursday about a mailer to voters from Wilson supporters saying, "Todd Atwater's corrupt trail needs to end now!", Atwater called the postcard "a lie."

If Wilson wants to talk corruption, he should look at himself, said Atwater, 52, a lawyer who is giving up his District 87 S.C. House seat in Lexington County to run for attorney general.

In 2016, Wilson tried but failed to stop Special Prosecutor David Pascoe from investigating Wilson's close friends, ex-Rep. Rick Quinn, R-Lexington, and his father, Wilson's former political consultant Richard Quinn, Atwater said. Pascoe went on to indict the Quinns in a public corruption probe that is ongoing.

Meanwhile, questions have been raised about Atwater's ethics during his eight years in the S.C. House. Those questions focus on whether Atwater improperly voted on proposals where the S.C. Medical Association had an interest. Atwater was chief executive of the Medical Association at the time.

Atwater, now an attorney in private practice, says the half dozen or so votes in question mostly involved matters of patient safety and were not anything that either he or the Medical Association had a financial interest in.

"I never voted on conflicts," Atwater said. "None of those things ever benefited the association or any doctors."

Atwater also has drawn scrutiny for his reporting of his salary on State Ethics Commission l disclosure forms.

On those forms, Atwater reported he was paid roughly $33,000 in salary from the Medical Association. But he also was paid about $400,000 by the Medical Association's private insurance subsidiaries, which Atwater oversaw as chief executive of the association.

However, Atwater says state law only required him to report the portion of his compensation that was attributable to the Medical Association, which lobbies state government.

Atwater says he knows he faces an uphill battle against Wilson, a two-term incumbent who is better financed. As of June 4, Wilson had $407,000 in cash on hand to spend. As of May 28, Atwater had slightly less — $367,777.

"I'm definitely the underdog — no doubt about it," said Atwater. "But I can win."

In the June 12 GOP primary, Wilson won 48.6 percent of the 343,097 votes cast, just 8,000 fewer than he needed to win outright, avoiding a runoff. Atwater came in second, winning 29.7 percent of the vote.

The third-place finisher — Greenville lawyer William Herlong, who took 21.6 percent of the vote — has endorsed Atwater.

"I felt like Todd would embody the anti-corruption platform that I felt so strongly about," said Herlong, who also raised questions about Wilson's ties to the Quinns. Also, said Herlong, eight years in office is enough for someone like Wilson "unless he can make a really compelling case why he deserves a third term. He has not done that."

Neal Thigpen, political science professor emeritus at Francis Marion University in Florence, said the Quinn allegations have failed to sink Wilson but probably cost him enough votes in the June 12 primary to force a runoff.

"You take the Quinn stuff away and Alan would probably have won in the first round," said Thigpen, who has been watching Palmetto State politics for 40 years.

Thigpen predicted Wilson will have the support of party regulars in Tuesday's runoff and likely win.

But, he added, "Who knows? Stranger things have happened."

Meanwhile, last week, Wilson supporters sent out an oversized postcard with photos of Wilson and President Donald Trump together, saying, "Alan Wilson Stands With President Trump."

Atwater is not unfazed.

"If people want to enforce the rule of law and clean up corruption, then they should vote for me," he said. "A new broom sweeps clean."

This story was originally published June 21, 2018 at 7:12 PM with the headline "Underdog plays defense, offense in runoff with Wilson for SC attorney general."