Longtime SC political consultant Richard Quinn Sr. dies

Richard Quinn Sr., a top South Carolina political consultant who masterminded a web of influence known as the “Quinndom” and whose firm was found to have made secret payments to influential lawmakers, has died. He was 79.

The death was confirmed Thursday morning by Bill Stern, longtime Quinn friend and political fund-raiser.

“A man is measured by his lifetime of achievements. Throughout his consulting career that spanned decades, Richard advised some of the most impactful politicians in our state and helped influence politics on the national stage. Beyond his work, he cared deeply for his family and friends, and I am fortunate to have been counted among them. My deepest sympathies and prayers are with his family during this difficult time,” Stern said.

At his height, during the 1990s and well into the 2000s, no other consultant in South Carolina could match Quinn in the range and importance of elected officials, institutions and businesses he represented, including a governor, the attorney general, members of the Legislature and Congress, as well as institutions such the University of South Carolina.

Despite his legendary power — he was often called a “godfather” and “kingmaker” — he came across as a man with a calm, even kindly temperament, and he had a low-key but authoritative manner.

He once told a reporter with The State that his clients were like family. “We do our best work for people that we really care about,” he said.

Quinn was also for years a behind-the-scenes leader in the fight to keep the Confederate flag in a prominent position on the State House grounds and a past editor of a magazine — the Southern Partisan —dedicated to the politics and culture of the former Confederate states, according to a 2000 New York Times article.

Bitter political fights over the flag’s highly visible position of prominence on State House grounds divided the state until 2015, when a white supremacist who worshipped the flag massacred nine Black parishioners at a Charleston church. Only then did the Legislature vote to remove the flag by the narrowest of margins.

Quinn’s mostly Republican political clients, who paid him millions over the years for political advice, included Gov. Henry McMaster, Attorney General Alan Wilson, U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, current state Treasurer Curtis Loftis and former S.C. Education Superintendent Molly Spearman. Quinn also worked on the presidential campaigns of Ronald Reagan and U.S. Sen. John McCain.

Quinn also worked as a consultant for powerful legislative lawmakers, including the late Senate President Pro Tempore Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence; former Senate President President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell; and Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Horry, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Quinn also represented former Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, a Democrat.

Besides the University of South Carolina, institutions that hired Quinn included AT&T, the now-defunct electric utility SCANA, the trial lawyers’ group S.C. Association for Justice and Palmetto Health (now Prisma).

“As far as political consultants in South Carolina, everyone else was in the minor leagues compared to him,” said David Pascoe, a special prosecutor who used a state grand jury with subpoena powers to investigate Quinn and his web of influence.

But, said Pascoe, he also learned from the investigation how much Quinn “loved his family and was a devoted family man to his children, grandchildren and their families.”

During a multi-year investigation probing Quinn’s web of influence, Pascoe and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division used a search warrant issued by a state grand jury to uncover a trove of emails and financial information from Quinn’s Columbia-based firm, Richard Quinn & Associates.

That search of Quinn’s office in early 2017 resulted in the seizure of seven computers, eight thumb drives, software, email, tax returns and thousands of other documents.

Using financial information found in Quinn company records, Pascoe successfully brought charges against Quinn’s business and various lawmakers who had taken unpublicized payments over the years or committed other misconduct. They included former State Sen. John Courson, R-Richland, and former state Rep. Jim Harrison, R-Richland, who had been chairman of the powerful S.C. House Judiciary Committee.

Evidence in Harrison’s case showed that for years, he had taken about $85,000 a year from Quinn’s firm, Richard Quinn & Associates, without disclosing the payments. Evidence in Courson’s case showed he had laundered some $159,000 over six years in campaign contributions through Quinn’s firm.

And Pascoe’s investigation resulted in a guilty plea by Quinn last year to four counts of perjury and two counts of obstruction of justice. Judge Carmen Mullen sentenced him to 18 months home detention to be followed by probation.

Quinn’s plea was what is called an Alford plea, meaning he acknowledged the government had enough evidence to likely convict him in a trial but at the same time, he asserted his innocence.

One politician paying tribute to Quinn on Thursday was McMaster. “Richard Quinn was one of the finest men I’ve ever known,” the governor said in a statement. “Brilliant, generous, compassionate — and devoted to his family and friends. His contributions to our state’s progress are immeasurable. He was my friend. Peggy and I will never forget him. Our hearts and prayers are with his family.”

Attorney General Wilson said in a statement that Quinn “was a titan in South Carolina politics. He was a brilliant strategist whose contributions to our state will be felt for decades. I knew him as a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and friend. He was an amazing man whose loss will be felt by many. Please pray for his family.”

Quinn’s empire falls

The State House corruption saga began in 2014, after Attorney General Wilson, a Republican, appointed Democrat and 1st Circuit Solicitor Pascoe as the special prosecutor in an investigation involving then-House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston.

Pascoe secured a guilty plea and misdemeanor conviction for use of campaign funds for personal expenses in October 2014 from Harrell, who resigned.

During the investigation into Harrell, Pascoe learned about more possible corruption in the General Assembly and wanted to extend his special prosecutor’s role to go after other targets. It was a move opposed by Wilson, whose close political allies, including Quinn, were Pascoe’s potential targets. Wilson asserted Pascoe was exceeding his authority.

After a series of bruising legal battles between Wilson and Pascoe, the South Carolina Supreme Court gave Pascoe permission to launch a state grand jury investigation into State House corruption that came to involve Quinn’s records, which included his non-disclosed payments to various legislators.

Besides Courson and Harrison, lawmakers caught in Pascoe’s probe were:

▪ Former Rep. Jim Merrill, R-Berkeley, who pleaded guilty in September 2017 to using his office for personal profit. He had been indicted on charges he used his office to unlawfully pocket more than $1 million, money he allegedly took from various groups to influence legislation on their behalf.

▪ Former Rep. Tracy Edge, R-Horry, who pleaded guilty last year to failing to report a portion of his campaign contributions.

▪ Quinn’s son, Rick Jr., who pleaded guilty in December 2017 to misdemeanor misconduct in office. Rick Quinn Jr., a 20-year House veteran known for his political influence, had failed to report income from the University of South Carolina, which lobbies the Legislature, according to evidence in the case. Quinn Jr. also agreed to resign from the Legislature.

▪ Quinn Sr. himself. In early 2018, Judge Carmen Mullen levied a $2,500 fine against the Richard Quinn & Associates public relations and political strategy firm, which pleaded guilty, and ordered it to pay $3,000 in restitution for failing to register as a lobbyist, a misdemeanor offense. Other charges against Quinn Sr. were dropped.

According to a 2018 state grand jury report made public by Judge Clifton Newman, Merrill and Edge got regular nonpublic payments from Quinn’s firm while they were elected officials.

That same state grand jury report said “rivers of dark money” surrounding Quinn’s firm were circulating in the General Assembly. It was a rare state grand jury public report on behind-the-scenes influence peddling in the state.

As part of Quinn Sr.’s plea deal, Quinn Sr. agreed to testify truthfully before a state grand jury. In 2018, Quinn made appearances before the state grand jury, and prosecutors subsequently indicted him for perjury and obstruction of justice. It was a plea bargain on those charges for which he pled guilty to last year and was sentenced to home detention.

One of Quinn’s attorneys, Deborah Barbier, said that Quinn’s clients “were amongst our most distinguished leaders who trusted and relied upon his political expertise, intellect and savvy. Even during challenging times, Richard was an inspiration, a fighter and an optimist. I am grateful for the privilege of knowing him and counting him as a friend.”

Staff writer Joseph Bustos contributed to this report.

This story was originally published March 21, 2024 at 12:04 PM.